Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A Strategic View of Land
Management Planning in Bangladesh
24
AINUN NISHAT, BUSHRA NISHAT
AND MALIK FIDA ABDULLAH KHAN
Introduction
Profile of Land Resources
Situated in the lower reaches of the three great
rivers, the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna,
Bangladesh is one massive alluvial floodplain
criss-crossed by a network of several rivers, their
numerous tributaries and canals. The system of
rivers, canals, floodplains and water bodies is in-
tensively integrated, influences the people's way
of life and is fundamental to the country's mainly
agrarian economy.
Given the hydrological setting of the country,
for centuries water has been the lifeline of the
country and at times has also been at the root of
its sufferings. Floods inundate the landscape dur-
ing the summer monsoon every year as rainfall
and snowmelt from the mountains cause the riv-
ers to spill over their banks. These inundations
frequently develop into devastating floods. Land
management in Bangladesh verymuch reflects the
inundations, seasonal cycles of water availability
and agricultural production. In keeping with the
main theme of the topic, this chapter discusses
land management in Bangladesh in the context of
flood management.
The total area of Bangladesh is approximately
14.4 million hectares of which 12.46 million hec-
tares are land surface and 0.94million hectares are
rivers and other inland water bodies. The actual
areas fluctuate slightly due to changes taking
place in the courses of major rivers creating
new land through accretion in some places
and devouring land through erosion elsewhere
(Abdullah et al. 1991).
The extensive floodplain of the three major
rivers and their tributaries and distributaries
dominates the physiography of the country. About
80% of the country is floodplains composed of
predominantly recent alluvial deposits trans-
ported by the rivers from the Greater Himalayan
region. The entire country is low-lying and
extremely flat with the exceptions of a few hills
in the north, northeast and southeast of the coun-
try. Hill areas in the northeastern and eastern parts
occupy about 12%, and terrace areas in the centre
and northwest occupy about 8% of the country.
Because of the flat topography flooding spreads
evenly and accumulates on the plains. The allu-
vial rivers have natural levees on both banks,
which slope down towards the floodplains. There
are numerous natural depressions, mainly in
the northeast part of the country, locally known
as haors, in the northwest region known as beels,
and in the southwest part of the country known
as baors. Figure 24.1 shows the generalized phys-
iographic features of the country.
