Water policy and governance for the empowerment of river basin communities in rural Bangladesh

Date

2014-09

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of British Columbia

Abstract

The study describes the effects of regional hydropolitics on water management, focusing on three large engineering projects, the Farakka Barrage built by India on the Ganges River, and the Ganges-Kobodak Gorai River Restoration Projects in Bangladesh. The traditional livelihood strategies and local ecological knowledge of farming households in the community of Chapra, Kushtia District, Bangladesh is being displaced by a commoditized system created through government intervention. The human right to water is being systematically violated. Governance systems of Bangladesh and India are herein understood as ecocracies – highly centralized bureaucratic systems where resources are controlled by elite groups following neoliberal goals.

Description

Keywords

BANGLADESH, GANGES RIVER, FARAKKA BARRAGE, WATER MANAGEMENT, HYDROLOGY, HYDROPOLITICS, NEOLIBERALISM, SOUTH ASIA, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, ECOSYSTEMS, TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS, FLOOD CONTROL, RIGHT TO WATER, BASIC NEEDS, LIVELIHOODS, INDIA, RIVER BASINS

Citation

DOI