Hazards in a Fickle Environment: Bangladesh

Presenting first-hand longitudinal research on the riverine hazards in Bangladesh, this interdisciplinary text addresses the profound significance of the societal aspects and human-geographical dimensions of natural disasters. The characteristics and nature of responses to floods and riverbank-erosion hazards are examined, as well as the assessment of their impact. The book argues that disaster impacts are caused as much by social, economic, political and cultural factors as they are by the fickle physical environment of the quaternary alluvial flood-plains, and that massive physical-structural intervention in event controlling could become ineffective. A new approach is offered which considers the ecological sensitivity and dynamics of the Ganges-Brahmaputra deltaic system, and the related socio-cultural adaptations of people to these riverine events. Intended for research scientists and students of geography, anthropology, ecology and environmental, population and development studies, the book is also aimed at professionals specializing in natural and anthropogenic disasters.