Livelihood of the Char Dwellers of Western Assam

Kumar, Balram; Das, Debarshi

doi:10.1177/0973703019839808

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…The compounding of NRC and climatic stressors is most evident when looking at Assam's chapori and char dwellers. Chars and chaporis are riverine sandbars, islands, and low-lying riverbanks formed by the process of sediment deposition and erosion of the Brahmaputra River (Kumar and Das 2019, Agarwala 2020. They are unstable temporary land masses, highly vulnerable to floods, and constantly reshaped by the push and pull of the river (Boruah et al 2021).…”

Section: We Don't Do Things We Talk About My Request To the Undp Is T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historically, these "undefined and undulating lands" were settled only temporarily during the dry winter months, and char dwellers practiced shifting cultivation in 2-to 3-year cycles before having to evacuate (Saikia 2020). By the mid-20th century, char areas became more densely and permanently populated with new migrants, who were encouraged to settle in these flood-prone "wastelands" by locals and the British colonial state, to help maximize agricultural yields and revenue-generation from land (Kumar and Das 2019). Most of these new migrants belonged to the Muslim community of East Bengal (today's Bangladesh), especially those who settled in the western parts of the Brahmaputra valley (Kumar and Das 2019).…”

Section: We Don't Do Things We Talk About My Request To the Undp Is T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mountains of inequality: encountering the politics of climate adaptation across the Himalaya

Chakraborty,

Rampini,

Sherpa

2023

E&S

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There has been a widespread call for the development of transformative adaptation knowledge and strategies in the Himalayan region because of the intensifying onset of climate change impacts. But such transformative thinking is absent in much of Himalayan climate knowledge production, which builds on environmental deterministic and techno-managerial renditions of exceptional precarity; advocates for an increase in the scientific and expert driven projects on the ground; and remains rooted in the scalar realities of the nation-state. This paper contributes to the rich scholarship that counterbalances depoliticized renditions of climate change adaptation, by presenting "everyday stories of adaptation" that have emerged from the authors' work alongside Himalayan communities. In this work we ask, who is the subject in Himalayan climate adaptation discourse and policies? And how can their stories help us envision an adaptation praxis, which challenges regional narratives of crisis and provides alternatives to climate reductionist thinking/planning, by foregrounding the intersectionality and plurality of communities and ecologies? The stories come from three parts of the Himalaya: Uttarakhand, Khumbu, and Assam, and highlight the daily labor for adaptation and its mercurial relationship with the labor for survival. We find that intertwined with changing climate-society relationships are, historical caste privileges and changing generational relationships to land; the complicated engagements between indigeneity, communal sovereignty, and exclusionary institutional mandates; and life with ethnoreligious othering in an aqueous and geopolitically fluid borderland. Together these stories witness the relational social-ecological worlds of regional inhabitants, challenging their powerless and pejorative depictions through climate reductive framings. We conclude with a set of objectives to enable more hopeful and just adaptation futures.

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Section: We Don't Do Things We Talk About My Request To the Undp Is T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: We Don't Do Things We Talk About My Request To the Undp Is T...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mountains of inequality: encountering the politics of climate adaptation across the Himalaya

Chakraborty,

Rampini,

Sherpa

2023

E&S

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“…It is not only displacement; another impact of erosion is loss of economic resources. This could be the reason which pushes them towards seasonal migration (Kumar & Das, 2019).…”

Section: Family As a Source Of Social Security In The Prevailing Economic Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consanguinity: A Form of Social Capital Among the Muslims of Char Areas in Barpeta District, Assam

Begum

2021

Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India

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Information on the dynamics of consanguinity is always important for public health strategy. It provides a direct roadmap for healthcare providers and health policymakers to make people aware of the consequences of consanguinity. The present study aims to investigate the attitude of the Muslim people practising consanguinity in the char (river island) areas of Barpeta district in Assam. It intends to seek a cultural explanation behind the practice of consanguinity. The study was conducted cross-sectionally among the Muslims living in different villages of the temporary, semi-permanent and permanent river islands of Barpeta district in Assam. A total of 556 married couples were included in the study. Of these, 103 couples are consanguineous and the rest 453 are non-consanguineous. To study the prevalence of congenital disorders, a sample of 153 males and 121 female inbred children of the consanguineous couples and 701 male and 571 female children of the non-consanguineous parents have been included in the study. The prevalence of consanguineous marriage in the chars was found to be 18.53% and the average coefficient of inbreeding was 0.05996796. Of the consanguineous marriages, the most favoured type was between the first cousins (63.11%), followed by half first-cousin marriages (12.62%). Altogether 14.60% of inbred were found to have some type of congenital disorder against 0.31% non-inbred. In the chars of Barpeta, it is not only ignorance but poor economic condition is also a reason behind the practise of consanguinity. Consanguineous marriage provides means of escaping the expenditure incurred in dowry or bridewealth payment. With seasonal floods, river erodes their village and crops completely every year. Family remains the sole source of stability and security. Consanguineous marriage therefore forms a sort of social capital as they are a source of secured and stable married life in the most hostile ecological settings where these people are living. Social security is of utmost priority behind these marriages in the char.

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“…Research on char livelihoods in various regions of India and Bangladesh has been conducted (Baqee, 1998;Islam et al, 2011;Rakib et al, 2019;Lahiri-Dutt & Samanta, 2013;Chowdhury, 2000;Islam, 2000;Islam et al, 2015;Rahman et al, 2017;Kamal, 2011;Lahiri-Dutt, 2014;Uddin & Dhar, 2017). Few studies have also been conducted on the char livelihood in Assam (Hoque, 2015;Chakraborty, 2012;Khandakar, 2016;Kumar & Das, 2019). These studies partially talk about the livestock rearing sector as a source of people's livelihood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock, livestock loss and livelihood: a note on Mishing char dwellers of Assam

Saikia,

Mahanta

2023

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The geography of char (the sandy land areas found within the river or lining at the bank) and their fertile lands create a suitable environment for livestock rearing, significantly contributing to livelihood, income, and nutritional intact for the char dwellers. The study investigates how livestock rearing and losses due to diseases and disasters are related to the livelihood and economy of the char-residing people, with a particular concentration on the Mishing char dwellers of Assam. The study considers two districts of Assam having char areas populated by the Mishing population. Both quantitative and qualitative tools are used to achieve the desired goals. Table and box plot figures are used to present the results. It is found that the loss of livestock is a serious threat to the economy of char dwellers. It contributes the most significant portion of their economic loss. It is also found that the severity is higher in case of disease loss of livestock than disaster loss. The study further suggests possible adaptation strategies for reducing livestock loss in the study area.

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Livelihood of the Char Dwellers of Western Assam

Cited by 11 publications

References 4 publications

Mountains of inequality: encountering the politics of climate adaptation across the Himalaya

Mountains of inequality: encountering the politics of climate adaptation across the Himalaya

Consanguinity: A Form of Social Capital Among the Muslims of Char Areas in Barpeta District, Assam

Livestock, livestock loss and livelihood: a note on Mishing char dwellers of Assam

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