Communities face off with a river that swallows lands and homes: A Case Study of River Erosion in Yusuf Matubbarer Dangi Village in North Channel Union of Faridpur District
This case study tells the story of Yusuf Matubbarer Dangi Village as a microcosm of the existential threat posed by river erosion and flooding to the country of Bangladesh. This village also encapsulates the experience of communities who are rendered landless when floods swallow up their properties and who then have to wait for new land to emerge from the river in the simultaneous erosion and accretion of land when the river swells. Like other landless people, the affected community in this village expect that the government would grant them parcels of this newly created land, in accordance with the law. The Khas Land Management and Settlement Policy, 1997, provides that such lands, which are classified as public or khas land, can be distributed to, among others, families who have lost their land due to river erosion. However, like the rest of Bangladesh, residents of Yusuf Matubbarer Dangi Village have been denied access to agricultural khas land which end up being controlled by powerful people.
