"This book will serve well those who seek to know what it is like for these dwellers to live in chars in the middle of our mighty rivers on their estuaries, and what it will take to improve their conditions." (ATM Nurul Amin, The Daily Star, thedailystar.net, May 16, 2022)
I INTRODUCTION
Background, Context and Organization of the Book
Mohammad Zaman and Mustafa Alam
II THEORIZING DELTA AND CHARLAND
1. The Delta and Charland in Historical and Comparative Perspectives
Mohammad Zaman, Mustafa Alam and Benoit Ivars
2. Chars as Destabilizers
Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
Char Dwellers’ Right to Development
Indrani Sigamany and Jay Drydyk
III GEOMORPHOLOGY OF BENGAL DELTA
Morphologic Instability and Erosion Problems in the River Systems of Bangladesh
Harun Rashidand Munshi K. Rahman
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Study the Behavior and Dynamics of Riverine Chars in Bangladesh
Knut Oberhagemann, Maminul Haque Sarker and Iffat Huque
The Dynamics of Coastal Chars in Bangladesh
Maminul Haque Sarker, Iffat Huque and Knut Oberhagemann
The Soils of Bangladesh’s Charlands
Hugh Brammer
9. Evaluating Future Risk: Quantifying the Effects of Climate Change on Riverine and Coastal Chars
Shampa and Anisul Haque
IV CHAR SETTLEMENT IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY CONTEXTS
Charland Colonization and Settlements in the Floodplains and Delta
Mohammad Zaman
Dynamic Land and Adaptive People of Bengal Delta: A Spatio-Temporal Perspective
C. Emdad Haque and Mohammad Jakariya
Coping Strategies and Future Resettlement Options of People Displaced by Riverbank Erosion in the Lower Meghna Estuary
Bimal Kanti Paul, Munshi Khaledur Rahman, Thomas Crawford, Scott Curtis, Md. Giasuddin Miah, Rafiqul Islam and Md. Sariful Islam
Floods, Charlands Erosion and Settlement Displacement in the Ganges-Padma River Basin
Shafi Noor Islam
Flood Proofing Measures for Char Communities in Bangladesh
Ian Tod
Char Development for Addressing Riverbank Erosion related Displacement
Atiur Rahman
V CHAR ECONOMY, LIVELIHOOD, GENDER AND OUTMIGRATION
Understanding Char Economy: Household Perspective and the National Context
Mustafa Alam
Vulnerability to Natural Hazards and Community-based Adaptation in Agriculture: A Case Study
Zobaer Ahmed, Herman Lotze-Campen andMd. Humayun Kabir
Coping of Char Agricultural Marketing System to Hydro-meteorological Hazards
M. Aminur Rahman,M. Shahjahan Mondaland M. Rezaur Rahman
Role of NGOs in Post-Flood Rehabilitation in Chars in Gaibandha District, Bangladesh
Babul Hossain
Gender Issues and Social Development Challenges in Char Environments
Suzanne Hanchett
Out Migration as a Survival Strategy for Char Dwellers: Findings from Three Selected Chars
Hafiza Khatun, Md. Humayun KabirandLutfun Nahar
VI CASE STUDIES ON MAJOR EXPERIMENTS IN CHAR DEVELOPMENT
The Chars Livelihoods Program: Experiences and Learnings
Lokman Hossain
Livelihood Development in Coastal Chars in the Meghna Estuary: The Danida Experience
Harvey Demaine
Char Development and Settlement Project: Reflections of Experiences
Koen de Wilde,
Transforming Lands, Transforming Lives: Sandbar Agricultural Technology and Innovations
Nazmul Islam Chowdhury
VII LAND RIGHTS, INSTITUIONS AND GOVERNANCE
Alluvial and Diluvial Land Laws and Administration: A Paradigmatic Shift Necessary to Benefit Displaced People
Mohammad Zaman and Md. Akhtar Hossain
Char Development Authority and Governance Issues
Mohammad Zaman and Mustafa Alam
VIII CONCLUSIONS
Toward an Inclusive and Integrated Char Development Program
Mohammad Zaman and Mustafa Alam
Mohammad Zaman is an international development/resettlement specialist and advisory professor, National Research Center for Resettlement, Hohai University, Nanjing, China. He carried out extensive ethnographic research on disaster and displacement in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna floodplain. For many years, his core research has been on char settlement, their economies and social organizations and how these have been historically shaped by the colonial and post-colonial land tenure and administration with regard to alluvial and diluvial lands. He is a Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology, and advisor to the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, India.
Mustafa Alam, a Professor (Retired) in Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, has a rich background in research on issues relating to integrated water resources management. He participated as a professional team member in several Flood Action Plan study components in Bangladesh, where his involvement in the multidisciplinary Charland Study figured prominently. Prof. Alam gained valuable experience about char life in the country through this study, whereby he carried out extensive fieldwork in numerous chars spread around all the major river systems of the country. Apart from miscellaneous reports he produced on issues relating to chars in Bangladesh, he has a number of valuable publications to his credit on the subject. Given this background, Prof. Alam’s role as an editor of this volume certainly adds value to the discourses contained in it.
In Bangladesh, the chars within the river channels are an important part of its landscape. However, these land masses continue to remain isolated, deprived of services, and pockets of poverty in the country. The char dwellers are vulnerable to natural hazards like flood and erosion. In addition to these hazards, the coastal chars are faced with the imminent problem of widespread inundation due to sea level rise resulting from climate change.
Within this context, the book Living on the Edge: Char Dwellers in Bangladesh has brought together valuable scholarship on the diverse issues relating to the chars and the communities living in there. This comprehensive collection, with contribution of experts on the subject from across the globe, provides an understanding of the problems faced by the char dwellers and also comes up with policy prescriptions for ensuring overall welfare of char communities in the country.