Living With or Beside the River: Control of Brahmaputra’s Hydrological Dynamics v/s Peasant Mobility

Crémin, É. and Grivel, S. (2015) Living With or Beside the River: Control of Brahmaputra’s Hydrological Dynamics v/s Peasant Mobility. I.S. Rivers Conference, Lyon, France, 22-26 Jun 2015.

Abstract

In North-East India, every year during the monsoon season, the level of the Brahmaputra rises and floods cover the plain with silt and sandy sediments. The Brahmaputra undergoes extreme changes with regards its channel configurations, involving the erosion of cultivated and village lands. To prevent these phenomena, the territorial authorities have built embankments along the riverbanks in order to improve land use and to protect human settlements. Nevertheless, the Mising tribe has been used to coping with floods for a long time. They practise different types of paddy cultivation and grow varieties that can adjust to the various ecosystems. They also used to move their settlements according to how the river channels shift. However, nowadays, communities can barely transfer their dwelling-places when their villages are washed away because land records restrict their movements. Protected by embankments, villagers are no longer used to having to face floods. Consequently, they are not prepared when the river suddenly breaches embankments. Families find themselves landless and have to adjust their livelihoods. This paper focus on how the government is managing river dynamics, such as flood and erosion and how the riverside inhabitants adjust their livelihoods to newly created conditions. We question whether embankments effectively protect people or contribute to increase risks.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cremin, Dr Emilie
• Authors: Crémin, É., and Grivel, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability

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