Essay \'Flood Management in Bangladesh\' Outline.docx PDF

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Essay 'Flood Management in Bangladesh' Outline...

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analyze the issue of Flood Management in Bangladesh using both 'sustainability' and ‘development' frameworks; compare the strengths and weaknesses of both of these frameworks; and draw on the case to inform your appraisal of sustainable development, including your interpretation of its 'usefulness’.

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Bangladesh is a country located on the Bengal delta in South Asia. It experiences annual flooding events in relation to monsoon rains coupled with snow and ice melt from the Himalayan mountain ranges (Hoffer and Messerli 2007). This causes the country’s three main rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, and their tributaries to swell, of which devastating floods are often the consequence (Hoffer and Messerli 2007). Flood management in Bangladesh is an important issue that needs to be addressed

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In terms of a sustainability framework, flood management involves flood control with minimal environmental side effects. It aims to address flood issues, ensuring environmental sustainability and preservation of ecological diversity (Haque 1993). The control of flooding in Bangladesh through a sustainability framework by: 1. Control of construction on river banks as well as river bank erosion by human activity (Haque 1993). 2. Implementation of heightened levees strengthened by vegetation (Haque 1993). Dams, for example, would not be a very successful measure in terms of a sustainability framework due to their negative ecological side effects that are tied with their flood control capabilities (McCully 2001).

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In terms of a development framework, flood management involves flood control with a focus on social freedom and entitlements, gender equality, and wellbeing in relation to flooding events (Sen 1999, Fukuda-Parr 2003 and Brouwer et al. 2007) i.e. the socioeconomic vulnerability of local residents to flooding events and their post flooding welfare (Sen 1999, Fukuda-Parr 2003 and Brouwer et al. 2007).

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The strengths of the sustainability framework include environmental protection and conservation of species, which in turn benefits mankind. The weaknesses include a possible lack of socioeconomic development.

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The strengths of the development framework include a focus on decreasing poverty and gender inequality, and thereby increasing social freedom and wellbeing, and reducing the vulnerability of local residents to flooding events (Sen 1999, Fukuda-Parr 2003 and Brouwer et al. 2007) This will also increase their physical and psychological security in relation to flooding events through increased assets (Sen 1999, Fukuda-Parr 2003 and Brouwer et al. 2007). The weaknesses include possible environmental side effects including environmental degradation and pollution, and negative ecological impacts on species and ecosystems.

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Sustainable development is not an easy principle to achieve. It is hard to implement in real world situations as a result of a complex network of issues that need to be considered (Redclift 2005). It is challenging to achieve sustainable environmental practices without hindering socioeconomic development (Redclift 2005). As a result, while the concept of sustainable development is idealistic and beneficial, it can be argued that it is not very useful in real world scenarios (Redclift 2005). Relating to the issue of flood management in Bangladesh, sustainable development would be especially hard to achieve, given the country is a developing nation with relatively low per capita wealth (Mathur and the WMO Secretariat 2006). In a country like Bangladesh, education is the key first step of a path towards sustainable development (Khan 2008).

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Flood management in Bangladesh can be addressed using both sustainable and development frameworks, however the ultimate challenge is to interconnect the two for greater benefit, to achieve sustainable development.

Reference List

Brouwer, R, Akter, S, Brander, L and Haque, E 2007, ‘Socioeconomic Vulnerability and Adaptation to Environmental Risk: A Case Study of Climate Change and Flooding in Bangladesh’, Risk Analysis, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 313-326 Fukuda-Parr, S 2003, ‘The Human Development Paradigm: Operationalizing Sen’s Ideas on Capabilities, Feminist Economics, vol. 9, no. 2-3, pp. 301-317 Haque, CE 1993, ‘Human responses to riverine hazards in Bangladesh: A proposal for sustainable floodplain development’, World Development, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 93-107 Hoffer, T and Messerli, B 2007, ‘Floods in Bangladesh: History, Dynamics and Rethinking the Role of the Himalayas’, Environmental Conservation, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 348-348 Khan MSA 2008, ‘Disaster preparedness for sustainable development in Bangladesh’, Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 662-671 Mathur, VK and the WMO Secretariat 2006, ‘Sustainable development through interated flood management’, WMO Bulletin, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 164-169 McCully, P 2001, ‘Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams’, Zed Books Ltd, London and Room 400, New York Redclift, M 2005, ‘Sustainable Development (1987-2005): An Oxymoron Comes of Age’, Sustainable Development, vol. 13, pp. 212-227 Sen, A 1999, ‘Development as Freedom’, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Ney York...