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Cooch Behar district is spread over an area of 3387 sq. km. as in 2011 and is the
only district in the state of West Bengal which had several ‘Enclaves or Chhitmahal’
lying inside the territory of the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. Though in
phases, the immigration rose to 0.15 million which is almost 21.75% after the Indian
independence (1947) and creation of Bangladesh (1971) (GoI 2011a). A report from
Indo-Bangladesh enclaves (Chhitmahal) Office of the District Magistrate, Cooch
Behar stated that the four bordering subdivisions of the district, namely, Mekhliganj,
Mathabhanga, Dinhata and Tufanganj, would get 51 enclaves altogether, of which
Dinhata alone had the highest number with 19 enclaves and 2538 families residing
therein (Banerjee et al. 2017). In the study, frequent change in the Jaldhaka river
(locally known as Singimari in Cooch Behar and Dharla in Bangladesh) course,
river bank erosion and increased discharge and flooding during monsoons are the
Fig. 12.1 Location Map of the case study areas
12 Environmental Vulnerability and Displacement Due to Land Erosion: Selected…