Abstract:
Bangladesh's diverse and dynamic coastal area is currently facing incontrovertible climate change, which leads to constant flooding, rising sea level, coastal erosion, subsidence, and salinity. The Bengal basin, formed by alluvial sediment deposition from the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna river systems, is the tectonically active and youngest drainage basin in the world. The rivers of the Khulna region, which is situated in south-western Bangladesh, are characterized by active sediment deposition, significantly reducing their drainage capacity. In south-western Bangladesh, a coastal polder was built to protect urban and agricultural land from tidal flooding and monsoon flooding. The river's natural flow has stopped as the tides deposited sediment in the riverbeds rather than in the floodplains due to polders resulting in chronic waterlogging. Waterlogging is a critical issue under the backdrop of worsening climate change for people in Bangladesh's south-western region. Long-term water logging has resulted in a significant settlement and livelihood displacement, presenting humanitarian challenges in safe water supply, sanitation, shelter, food security, and job opportunities. Temporary waterlogging in Bangladesh may not be uncommon. However, in this case, about one million people of Khulna, Jessore, and Satkhira's eight upazillas, Abhoynagar, Monirampur, Keshabpur, Dumuria, Tala, Phultala and Daulatpur, have been victims of waterlogging for the past 35 years. This research will focus on the water-logging problem of two south-western villages, Bhobodoho, an upstream village, and Panchbaria, a downstream village, alongside the same river stream, Mukteswari River (a distributary of Bhairab River). With an aim to contribute to the sustainable relationship between rural settlements and rivers, the research starts with the key question to investigate the role and involvement of local preference on river hydrology in transforming a settlement's resilient system in terms of climate change considering technical interventions, economic input, land use, livelihood pattern, and geographic hydrological location of mentioned two water-logged south-western villages of Bangladesh. The research continues with three specific objectives to investigate the external influences in conflict entanglement considering normal and abnormal conditions of two studied settlements along the Mukteswari River. A comparative case study research methodology involving questionnaire, interview, and observation for qualitative data and analysis was employed in addressing the research objectives. A comparative profile of local considerations and the output of the preferences between two waterlogged villages of Bangladesh will be sought through a fieldwork by looking into technical interventions, economy, land use, settlement formation, and livelihood pattern in the backdrop of climate change.
Key Words: local preferences, river flow management, settlement resilient system
