Evaluation of climate induced hazards risk for coastal Bangladesh: a participatory approach-based assessment

Abstract

Bangladesh has been identified as one of the most susceptible countries to climate induced disasters. Geographical location of the country in the foothill of Himalayan system and in the mouth of north Bay of Bengal make it to experience frequent extreme environmental events such as flood, cyclone, draught, river erosion, sea level rise, salinity etc. The coastal region of Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change and climate induced natural disasters. This study identifies the potential climate induced hazards, their vulnerability, capacity, associated risk and explores the potential strategies to reduce the disaster risk. This study was carried out in Uttar Bedkashi Union, Koyra Upazila under Khulna District in south west coastal region of Bangladesh. The information has been collected through individual level and key informant interview, focus group discussion, life history from local people to explore the context of the disaster risk and how they perceived it from their experiences. The study revealed that flooding as a result of high tide and salinity intrusion were the most prominent hazards followed by riverbank erosion and cyclone associated storm. Vulnerability assessment showed that cyclone associated storm surge was the major cause of vulnerabilities in the study area which followed by flooding and riverbank erosion. On the other hand, capacity assessment showed that community people have less capacity to deal with the multi-hazards risk. This study also revealed that riverbank erosion poses the highest risk in the study area followed by cyclone associated storm surge, flooding, and salinity intrusion. The study suggests some potential DRR strategy such as build disaster resilient house using indigenous and scientific knowledge, build or improve embankments, build or improve the communication roads, improve rain water harvesting system, provision of community-based health care center, create alternative and sustainable livelihood opportunity such as self-sustaining agriculture systems and further development of sustainable shrimp farming. The outcome of this study is expected to be useful for preparing an effective disaster risk mitigation plan by decision-makers. Further in-depth research on ARTICLE HISTORY

Vulnerability assessment based on household views from the Dammar Char in Southeastern Bangladesh

“…About 32% of this country's area (47,201 km 2 ) is found within the coastal region surrounded by the Bay of Bengal (Ahmad 2019). Of the 64 districts, 19 districts have been affected by several climate-induced coastal hazards and disasters such as cyclones, coastal erosion, storm surges, and salinity intrusion over the years, causing massive economic, social, and physical losses (Alam et al 2018;Faisal et al 2021;Mallick et al 2022). Suitable and sustainable management strategies need to be implemented in these vulnerable areas to ensure that each society has the capacity to withstand these hazards and disasters with its resources (Warner and Van der Geest 2013).…”