Article Abstract index4

Abstract From the ancient age, Bengal has faced various challenges from the changing course of the Ganges under various rulers and with these changes in the river course, the landscape of the affected area changed. This became a continuous process and huge amount of erosion occurred out of this, particularly in Malda and Murshidabad district of West Bengal. However, there has always been a struggle among scholars and intellectuals of various fields to attribute the problem of erosion in the riverine areas solely to any single factor. While recognizing the role of the geographical or geological factors behind the Ganges-bank erosion, the manmade factor - the construction of the Farakka Barrage has also been considered as one of the major one, even sometimes the more important one in this respect. The life of the affected people got shaped and reshaped in accordance with it. This phenomenon has made the people of the riverine regions homeless and land-less forcing them to be displaced from their roots. They had to struggle to fit in the new ambience and earn livelihood. Needless to say - the tragic part is that erosion has not shown any signs to be checked in future also. This paper is focused on how the several factors-as the natural factors and manmade factors contributed in their own way to the riverbank erosion in Malda that ultimately affected the life and living of the people over years in the erosion-prone areas of the district.
Keywords: Farakka Barrage, Ganges, erosion, geographical or geological, manmade, Displacement