210
12.2 The Global Problem and Local Case Studies
From 1970 to 2010, the population in Asia Pacific region increased from 2.2 billion to 4.2 billion, and the number of people exposed to flooding has increased
from 29.5 million to 63.8 million (UNESCAP 2012; Lewis 2015). According to
‘Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters’ report, 87% of recorded disasters in
2014 were related to climate. While the frequency of geophysical disasters
remained broadly constant, the geoclimatic disasters rose by 44% over 1994 to
2000 on the average (EM-DAT 2015). About 21.5 million people annually, and
38.3 million in just 2 years during 2008–2010, is said to be displaced by extreme
climatic events even though the actual count of the physiologically and psychologically affected people remains unknown (IDMC 2016, 2017) and the frequency and intensity of such events is expected to increase. It has also been
discussed by Adamo (2009) and Warner and Afifi (2014) that the households and
the population in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and many other south
Asian countries are at a risk of being homeless due to the changes in hydro-climatic regimes and resulting livelihood adversities. The indirect effects, especially of gradual temperature rising and sea level rise, are also alarming which
was predicted to displace more than hundreds of millions of people by 2100
worldwide (AGCCHM 2014; EJF 2017; Stapleton et al. 2017). It is now widely
recognized that climate change will unfavourably affect India in the near future.
It has been estimated that among the global climate-related displaced population
during 2009, the floods and cyclonic storms in India accounted for 18% and 14%,
respectively (IDMC 2011). Presumably about 70,000 people out of the 4.1 million living in the Indian part of the Sundarban islands would be rendered homeless by 2020.
River bank erosion is recurrent natural hazards, which create enormous land
loss and population displacement (Rabbi et al. 2013). According to Froehlich
et al. (2000) during heavy and concentrated rainfall, catastrophic soil erosion and
innumerable landslides are caused, transporting huge amount of sediments to the
rivers which are incapable of transferring the load efficiently under the existing
hydrological conditions, especially along their lower reaches (Roy and Sarkar
2011). The concept of environmental stress and movement of settlements can best
be observed through case study analysis of displacement and how people have
responded to it. The cases have been selected on the basis of similarity in the
environmental risks and character of movement due to the hazards, but in contrasting geographical situations. This study is mainly concerned with the different
scenario of displacement in northern and southern parts of West Bengal, India,
due to varied hydro- geomorphic processes coupled with climatic disasters
(Fig. 12.1). The first study is of Gitaldaha village in Dinhata I C.D. Block in
Cooch Behar district from North Bengal and the second study is of the villages in
Ghoramara Island within Sagar C.D. Block of South 24 Parganas district in
South Bengal.
A. Haldar et al.
12.2 The Global Problem and Local Case Studies
From 1970 to 2010, the population in Asia Pacific region increased from 2.2 billion to 4.2 billion, and the number of people exposed to flooding has increased
from 29.5 million to 63.8 million (UNESCAP 2012; Lewis 2015). According to
‘Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters’ report, 87% of recorded disasters in
2014 were related to climate. While the frequency of geophysical disasters
remained broadly constant, the geoclimatic disasters rose by 44% over 1994 to
2000 on the average (EM-DAT 2015). About 21.5 million people annually, and
38.3 million in just 2 years during 2008–2010, is said to be displaced by extreme
climatic events even though the actual count of the physiologically and psychologically affected people remains unknown (IDMC 2016, 2017) and the frequency and intensity of such events is expected to increase. It has also been
discussed by Adamo (2009) and Warner and Afifi (2014) that the households and
the population in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and many other south
Asian countries are at a risk of being homeless due to the changes in hydro-climatic regimes and resulting livelihood adversities. The indirect effects, especially of gradual temperature rising and sea level rise, are also alarming which
was predicted to displace more than hundreds of millions of people by 2100
worldwide (AGCCHM 2014; EJF 2017; Stapleton et al. 2017). It is now widely
recognized that climate change will unfavourably affect India in the near future.
It has been estimated that among the global climate-related displaced population
during 2009, the floods and cyclonic storms in India accounted for 18% and 14%,
respectively (IDMC 2011). Presumably about 70,000 people out of the 4.1 million living in the Indian part of the Sundarban islands would be rendered homeless by 2020.
River bank erosion is recurrent natural hazards, which create enormous land
loss and population displacement (Rabbi et al. 2013). According to Froehlich
et al. (2000) during heavy and concentrated rainfall, catastrophic soil erosion and
innumerable landslides are caused, transporting huge amount of sediments to the
rivers which are incapable of transferring the load efficiently under the existing
hydrological conditions, especially along their lower reaches (Roy and Sarkar
2011). The concept of environmental stress and movement of settlements can best
be observed through case study analysis of displacement and how people have
responded to it. The cases have been selected on the basis of similarity in the
environmental risks and character of movement due to the hazards, but in contrasting geographical situations. This study is mainly concerned with the different
scenario of displacement in northern and southern parts of West Bengal, India,
due to varied hydro- geomorphic processes coupled with climatic disasters
(Fig. 12.1). The first study is of Gitaldaha village in Dinhata I C.D. Block in
Cooch Behar district from North Bengal and the second study is of the villages in
Ghoramara Island within Sagar C.D. Block of South 24 Parganas district in
South Bengal.
A. Haldar et al.