Explaining the retreat from flood control in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of Bangladesh

Abstract

Management of land and water has posed critical policy issues for Bangladesh, given high growth and high population density, which has led to the progressive exhaustion of the external margins of arable land while approaching the limit intensification of agriculture. Over nearly a century, a critical debate has raged on the most appropriate strategy of water management to be deployed in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. These contestations have been social and political, bringing various interest groups, development agencies and affected people into relationships of conflict and confrontation. The predominant view, espoused by the government and the majority of its international advisers, has been that the flood-plains need to be protected by water control structures against inland flooding, typhoon and coastal saline intrusion. This has been justified by the claim of not only safeguarding life and property, but also promoting growth of intensive agriculture - through the use of high-yielding variety rice during the monsoon - of industrial zones and concomitant economic development. The general policy implication of this approach has been the expansion of flood control, drainage and irrigation structures through the construction of embankments/dykes, polders, sluices, barrages, etc.