1 Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under
Climate Change and Non-climatic Drivers of Change
Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
1.1 Introduction
This chapter addresses the question of security1 and
sustainability2 of water resource management (WRM)
in Bangladesh due to climate change and complex
social and political factors including weak govern-
ance. It suggests that social networks should play an
important role in ensuring security at the micro levels,
and the promotion of people-centred water manage-
ment. Bangladesh, a highly populated country located
on the floodplains of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-
Meghna Rivers, receives abundant monsoonal rain
which is concentrated between June and September.
Rapid population growth, economic growth impera-
tives, changing farming practices and the weak coordi-
nation of WRM have increased the gap between the
demand and supply of water leading to a water crisis
that threatens the stability of the country. It is increas-
ingly being understood that climate change poses a
serious challenge for future water resource manage-
ment in South Asia as a whole and exacerbates exist-
ing environmental problems. Babel and Wahid (2008)
showed that Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to declin-
ing freshwater supplies. Mirza and Ahmad (2003)
showed that the melting of the Himalayan glaciers
will change the volume and frequency of monsoonal
1 Environmental security is an increasing issue in world
affairs. Currently there is little coherence around the
world on its definition, threats, and policy responsibili-
ties. For the present purpose of this chapter, we use Bar-
nett’s definition: environmental security is the proactive
minimization of anthropogenic threats to the functional
integrity of the biosphere and thus to its interdependent
human component (Barnett 2001).
2 For the purposes of this chapter, we follow the defini-
tion of sustainability or sustainable development by the
World Commission on Environment and Development
(1987), defining sustainability as “forms of progress that
meet the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
floods due to changed river regimes and affect Bang-
ladesh more severely than other parts of South Asia.
Other changes in the country’s water resources
include large-scale sedimentation, changing water
quality, saline intrusion in coastal areas, land-use con-
version and degradation of water ecosystems.
Threats to the security of water resources and vul-
nerabilities,3 however, are not caused only by climate
change; there are a number of non-climatic drivers or
human-induced activities involved. For instance, dis-
charging household and industrial sewage and waste-
water into canals and rivers without any treatment,
illegal encroachment of river course and construction
inside river channels, imbalanced use and control of
water by upstream users causing a reduction on the
volume of flow, are important human-driven factors.
These affect water availability in major rivers causing
water resource pollution and posing threats for
human health throughout the rural areas in Bangla-
desh.
Sustainable economic development and poverty
reduction still remain top priorities for Bangladesh,
while the effects of climate change and impacts of
non-climatic drivers on its water resources affect hu-
man activities and settlements, making farmers in ru-
ral areas in particular and poor people in general
highly vulnerable. Increased water insecurities have
the potential to undermine the nation’s development
goals, in particular to erode its sustainability.
Although the predictive power of water resources
and climate change models has improved significantly,
so far little has been done to link climate change to
rural social factors, which are crucial in determining
3 The best, pro-poor, definition of vulnerabiulity has been
proposed by Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon and Davis (1994:
16): ”By vulnerability, we mean the characteristics of a
person or a group and their situation that influence
their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover
from the impact of a natural hazard.”
2 Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
Figure 1.1: Possible Climate Change Related Impacts in Tropical Asia. Source: IPCC (1998: 392). Reprinted with
permission of the IPCC.
water resources management practices in Bangladesh.
In linking both, this chapter assumes that the study
applies to WRM and security issues by enhancing our
knowledge of sustainability under changing climatic
and non-climatic conditions. Given its weak govern-
ance structures this chapter may have some policy rel-
evance for Bangladesh and could be used by other
countries whose water resources are also severely
affected.
1.2 Background
Local to global water resources, environment and eco-
system are being heavily influenced by both climate
change and non-climatic drivers such as human activi-
ties. In the following sections we shall discuss how cli-
mate change (climatic drivers) and human activities
(non-climatic drivers) impact on water resource and
increase the vulnerabilities of the environment, of
human beings and society in Bangladesh.
1.2.1 Climatic Drivers: Impacts and
Vulnerabilities
Alam and Murray (2005: 3) observed that climate
change would impose significant stress on resources
throughout Asia, but “water resources, coastal ecosys-
tems and human settlements” are amongst those that
are “thought to be highly vulnerable to climate
change.” The fourth assessment report (AR4) of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC
2007a) indicates that one of the most important chal-
lenges for Bangladesh’s potential for sustainable de-
velopment is the impact of climate change on its wa-
Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate Change
Figure 1.2: Flood types in Bangladesh. Source: Ahmad,
Warrick, Ericksen and Mirza (1996: 13).
Permission by the copyright holder is needed.
ter resources. Hydro-geological, human health and
socio-economic factors in Bangladesh are highly vul-
nerable to the severe impacts of climate change. In
coastal zones, for example, there would be a com-
bined effect of climate change, sea level rise, subsid-
ence and changes of upstream river discharge, cyclone
and coastal embankments. Bangladesh’s dynamic
coastal morphological processes would experience
change in the tidal and seasonal variations as well as
experience increased frequency and intensity of ex-
treme events (World Bank 2000). According to
Ahmed (2006), a number of factors are contributing
to the increase of these vulnerabilities, such as the ge-
ographical location of the country, the low elevation
of the land and the deltaic and tidal landscape, con-
centrated and heavy monsoon rains within a short pe-
riod, high population density and a high dependence
on agriculture that is dependent on monsoonal water
supplies. The key impacts of climate change on water
resources in Bangladesh and the increased vulnerabil-
ities raise the question(s): who or what is vulnerable
to climate change and how and why they are vulnera-
ble? We discuss these questions this next section.
In short, the key climate change impacts in Bang-
ladesh are:
3
Figure 1.3: Five main types of climate-related natural
events for Bangladesh. Source: Ericksen,
Ahmad and Chowdhury (1996: 264).
Permission by the copyright holder is needed.
• increases of rainfall leading to an unusual flow of
abundant water between June and September and
very limited water flows from November to May;
• increases of water temperature and evapotranspi-
ration rates lead to a decline in water quality in
most parts of country;
• increased temperatures in the Himalayan glaciers
lead to water shortages in Bangladesh;
• acceleration of the ice discharges from Greenland
and Antarctic ice sheets contribute to a rise in sea-
level, posing threats to costal areas in Bangladesh.
• which impact on aquatic ecosystems raising con-
cerns on water-related biodiversity.
1.2.1.1 Important Vulnerabilities
People living in rural and costal areas in Bangladesh
are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change
on water resources. Urban livelihoods and national
economic activities directly and indirectly rely on the
production (agriculture, fishing, cattle) in rural areas.
Thus, the climate change impacts on water resources
increase the vulnerabilities not only in rural areas, but
also of urban livelihoods and the economic develop-
ment of the country. For instance, if less rice is pro-
4 Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt

Table 1.1: Socio-economic impacts of sea-level rise (IPCC 1996a: 306). Reprinted with permission of the IPCC.

Climate-Related Events

Impact categories Coastal Erosion Flooding/ Saltwater Sedimentation Storminess

Inundation Intrusion Changes
Human Settlements ! ! !
Agriculture ! ! !
Freshwater Supply, Quality ! !
Fisheries ! ! ! ! !
Financial Services ! ! !
Human Health ! !

duced, the government must spend public resources
for imports. Below, we discuss how and why people
in rural and costal areas and national economic devel-
opment are vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change.
Water quality: According to Longfield and Mack-
lin (1999), climate change increases the vulnerabilities
of many geomorphic processes in water infrastruc-
tures, such as slope stability, soil moisture, erosion
and sediment transportation. The usual infrastruc-
tures of most rivers, canals and agricultural lands in
Bangladesh are becoming endangered by the unusual
water flows. This further increases the vulnerabilities
from floods, droughts and water quality in most parts
of Bangladesh, posing threats to human health and
ecosystems. Heavy rainfall and floods bring additional
suspended solids and increase the turbidity in lakes,
ponds, reservoirs and introduce pollutants (pesti-
cides, organic matter, heavy metals) and promote al-
gal blooms and increase bacteria content. Moreover,
Schindler (2001) argues that volatile and non-volatile
compounds such as ammonia, mercury, dioxins and
pesticides will spread with surface water bodies to the
atmosphere, putting rural people’s living conditions at
risk.
Key human vulnerabilities are for:
• rural people, especially farmers (using contami-
nated water for irrigation), children and poor men
and women who are directly affected by water
quality (from lack of pure water for drinking and
other household purposes);
• urban people who are indirectly vulnerable,
because many sick people in rural areas move to
urban areas and spread diseases. Food supply in
urban areas could decline and urban livelihoods
could thus also be affected.
Coastal areas: Ericson, Vˆrˆsmarty, Dingman, Ward
and Meybeck (2006) have noted that the Ganges,
Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers are highly sensitive to
sea-level rise, where the largest segment consists of
deltaic plains. This unique physical property of the re-
gion presents great risks to coastal water resources
and for the population, particularly for the poorer com-
munities (Woodroffe/Nicholls/Saito/Chen/Goodbred
2006). Allison, Khan, Goodbred and Kuehl (2003) ar-
gue that salinization of surface water in the coastal re-
gions in the south of Bangladesh increases through
seawater (saltwater) incursion into surface or freshwa-
ter sources, costal aquifers and costal river systems
and that is attributed by a rising sea level in the Bay of
Bengal.
Key human vulnerabilities: Coastal farmers will
lose agricultural lands and its productivity due to sea
level rise and saltwater intrusion.
Agricultural productivity: Agriculture and agri-
food production sectors in Bangladesh are most vul-
nerable due to conditions such as heavy rains, flood
conditions, weak quality of water and severe drought.
Faisal and Parveen (2004) point out that rice and
wheat productions are more vulnerable than other
crops because of their requirement of water for culti-
vation. They argue that about 8 per cent of rice and
32 per cent of wheat production will drop in Bangla-
desh by 2050 due to climate change and its implica-
tion on water sector. From past experiences, almost
every year, all floods had submerged huge agricultural
cultivated lands and damaged large amount of crops.
On the contrary, during the summer season, rural
farmers face challenges to cultivate rice and wheat
crops due to severe drought in the northern part of
Bangladesh.
Key human vulnerabilities:
• Because the rural people will not have the means
to access the commercial market to buy products
Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate Change 5

Table 1.2: Synthesized results of case studies on Bangladesh and Egypt on 1-m sea-level rise in 1990 US$. Source: IPCC
(1996a: 308).

People Affected Capital Value Land at Loss Wetland Adaptation/

at Loss at loss Protection Loss
Country/Source People % total Million % GNP Km2 % total Km2 Million % GNP
(1000s) US$ US$
Bangladesh (Huq 71,000 60 - - 25,000 17.5 5,800 >1000 >0.06
1995; Bangladesh
Government 1993)
Egypt (Delft 4,700 9 59,000 204 5,800 1.0 - 13,100 0.45
Hydraulics 1992)
India (Pachauri 7,100 1 - - 5,800 0.4 - - -
1994)
Netherlands 10,000 67 186,000 69 2,165 6.9 642 12,300 ß.05
(Peerbolte 1991)

Table 1.3: Potential land loss and population exposed in Asian countries to sea-level rise. Sources: IPCC (2001a: 569).

Country Sea-level rise Potential land loss Population exposed

2
cm km % millions %
Bangladesh 45 15,668 10.9 5.5 5.0
100 29,846 20.7 14.8 13.5
India 100 5,763 0.4 7.1 0.8
Indonesia 60 34,000 1.9 2.0 1.1
Japan 50 1,412 0.4 2.9 2.3
Malaysia 100 7,000 2.1 >0.05 >0.3
Pakistan 20 1,700 0.2 n.a. n.a.
Vietnam 100 40,000 12.1 17.1 23.1

that they could produce, less agricultural produc- also face this risk due to saline intrusion and erosion
tivity will pose direct threats to their livelihoods. through extreme events such as seal level rise, torna-
• Urban people are indirectly vulnerable because dos and cyclones in coastal areas.
food supply in urban areas will decline and urban Key human vulnerabilities: Less fish production
livelihoods would be affected. poses threats to rural people in terms of lack of pro-
• National economic development is directly vulner- tein with their intake. Less fish in rivers and canals
able because of its agro-based economy. means rural people can not access the commercial
market to buy fishes.
Water related biodiversity: The impacts of climate
Risk of human health: Human beings are directly
change on inland aquatic ecosystems in Bangladesh
and indirectly vulnerable to climate change through
are quite large. Water-related biodiversity across the
changes in the poor quality of water. Floods, consid-
country remain highly vulnerable because of the ef-
ered to be one of the most frequent natural weather
fects of rise in water temperature that lowers water
disasters in the country, have large impacts on the wa-
quality; alter mixing patterns of water compounds of
ter quality4 and on health ranging from injuries to
lakes, ponds and rivers. Production of planktonic
deaths (Ahern/Kovats/Wilkinson/Few/Matthies 2005).
communities and their food web, species composition
In addition, floods, storms, cyclones and tornados de-
will change with higher water temperature. As a result
stroy many infrastructures including the sanitation sys-
fish yields in many lakes, ponds and rivers in Bangla-
desh have declined and many other species are threat-
ened with extinction (MA 2005). On the other hand,
4 See EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster
coastal vegetated wetlands and water-based species
Database; at: <http://www.em-dat.net> (10 April 2009).
6 Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
tems of the rural poor. They also contaminate water
supplies with faecal bacteria, with dangerous chemi-
cals, pesticides, metals and hazardous waste. All these
affect human health through diseases such as vector-
borne (e.g. malaria) and water-borne (e.g. cholera).
One indirect result of poor public health is that the
productive efficiency of rural agricultural activities
and non-farm economic activities are affected by the
shortage of labour and waste of man days.
Livelihood vulnerabilities in the Charlands: The
river systems in the Bengal delta, are in the final
stages of formation. They bring large amounts of silt
from upstream parts in the Himalayas which give rise
to riverine islands within the river beds and channels
that are locally known as the charlands. People living
in charlands are among the poorest and the most vul-
nerable to sudden floods. Baqee (1998: 1 – 2) has
shown that the large number of chouras, the inhabit-
ants of the chars, constitute “some of the most des-
perate people in the country,” who live in a most un-
certain and fragile environment. Thus, chars have
been at the epicentre of resource management and of
policy debates in Bangladesh because of the impor-
tance of the riparian zones to the country’s life and
economy and the large number of people living and
using these lands (Chowdhury 2000). Lahiri-Dutt and
Samanta (2006) noted that people who live in char-
lands and who are coping with perceived insecurities,
due to certain livelihood benefits as well as lack of al-
ternative opportunities, and social capital play an im-
portant role in mobilizing community support and en-
hancing resilience to cope with sudden disasters. The
impacts of climate change on water resources, in par-
ticular the seasonal floods, riverbank erosion and
shifting river channels, are expected to make these
large numbers of chouras physically, socially and eco-
nomically more vulnerable and displace many of
them, forcing them to become environmental mi-
grants unless people-oriented water management
practices are promoted.
Socio-economic vulnerabilities due to climate
change can occur in different forms in Bangladesh;
for instance, damages can occur in an inequitable
manner leading to even permanent displacement of
the rural poor due to floods, droughts (or perceived
droughts, such as the lack of water in Padma River),
tornados and cyclones. Rural and coastal communi-
ties in Bangladesh are mostly victims of these changes
because of their limited resources, opportunities and
protection. Traditional livelihoods of local people are
threatened by their lacking ability to irrigate crops due
to water shortage or their lacking resources to buy
other products due to the crop damages from natural
hazards. Affected people are mentally stressed losing
crops, property, infrastructures and livestock. But cer-
tain segments of the population, especially children,
the elderly, daily paid workers (working for other
farmers) and marginalized groups are even more vul-
nerable Further, diseases emanating from the poor
quality of water make some local people socially vul-
nerable because they do not get proper treatment due
to a lack of money. As a result, social stability will be
affected because most rural people will lose their in-
come, become unemployed and live with high mental
stress. The education of children and of the young
from affected families will be interrupted and they
will be socially vulnerable due to lower economic pro-
ductivity. Finally, the national economic development
is directly affected by these changes.
1.2.2 Human-induced Drivers, Impacts and
Vulnerabilities
Water resources in Bangladesh are not only threat-
ened by the impacts of climate change, but also by
non-climatic drivers or human-induced activities, such
as:
• Household sewage and wastewater are discharged
untreated into canals and rivers causing water pol-
lution.
• Due to a lack of tight regulations and effective
monitoring systems water sources are at risk from
industrial effluents discharged into rivers. Textiles,
tanneries, pulp and paper mills, fertilizer, chemical
industry and refineries are the most harmful indus-
tries for the water sector in Bangladesh. According
to Cegis (2003) these industries also discharge haz-
ardous chemicals, both organic and inorganic,
without treatment.
• Imbalanced use and control of water by upstream
users (e.g. India) are affecting water availability in
major rivers in Bangladesh (e.g. in the Padma
River).
1.2.2.1 Important Vulnerabilities from Non-
climatic Drivers
The quality of water is depleting due to industrial ef-
fluents, household sewage and wastewater discharged
into rivers. As a result, fishes and other aquatic species
are becoming vulnerable to water pollution. Direct or
indirect effects of these pollutions are also contribut-
ing to people’s health and livelihoods. Loss of biodi-
versity, reduction of fisheries (a major source of pro-
Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate Change
Figure 1.4: Urbanization in Bangladesh. Source: Ericksen,
Ahmad and Chowdhury (1996: 239). Permission
is needed.
tein for the people) and reduction of agricultural
production near river banks also increase the vulnera-
bility of local poor farmers for sustenance.
The water flow of small rivers, canals and lakes
distributing the waters from or depending on the
Ganges becomes vulnerable due to the diversion and
unbalance use of water resource by upstream users in
India. The construction of the Farakka barrage over
the Indian part of the distributaries of the Ganges
River has undoubtedly worsened the water availability
during the winter months in Bangladesh. Moreover,
the chronic reduction over the recent years in the
flows of rivers falling into the Bay of Bengal has un-
duly created misunderstanding between the upper
and lower riparian countries in this part of South
Asia. The physical effects have also led to further so-
cio-economic vulnerabilities in the rural areas of the
Ganges-Padma basin in Bangladesh. Finally, due to in-
creasing industrialization and urbanization, agricul-
tural lands are shrinking in all over the region, and it
is feared that reduced availability of farming land is
making the poor more vulnerable. This was apparent
from the recent outburst of public anger across the
border in West Bengal in India over the acquisition of
cultivable land for industrial use, leading to wide-
7
Figure 1.5: Migration in Bangladesh. Source: Ericksen,
Ahmad and Chowdhury (1996: 245). Permission
is needed.
spread public perception of a looming decline in food
security.
1.2.2.2 Weak Governance
According to UNESCAP (2007), most developing so-
cieties are facing enormous challenges due to ineffi-
ciency and poor accountability which are symptoms
of weak governance. Pande, Tropp, Sharma and
Khatiwada (2006), in their report on human develop-
ment and good governance on Nepal, argue that ig-
noring the interest and priorities of the people in the
execution of plans by the government reflects weak
governance. This challenges principles of human dig-
nity (inclusiveness, liberty, equality and cooperation)
and at the end societies become vulnerable to weak
policies. Weak governance is a key non-climatic driver
with adverse impacts on WRM. Although climate
change impacts are also related to governance issues,
the direct impacts of weak governance on the sustain-
ability of water resources in Bangladesh are obvious.
For the WRM in Bangladesh, the influence of
weak regulations, lack of cooperation and monitoring
systems are acknowledged when major industries (tex-
tiles, tanneries, pulp and paper mills, fertilizer, chemi-
cal industrial and refineries) ignore their environmen-
8 Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
Figure 1.6: The central or national (top-down) control system and influences on the local level of government. Source:
Zillur (2007).
tal consequences that affect the people’s livelihood by
polluting water resources through industrial effluents.
An example of weak governance is the well-known
common occurrence of encroachment and illegal con-
structions on rivers.
The security of water resources in Bangladesh is
not only threatened by industrial pollution, but also
from the narrowing-down of the water system by ille-
gal encroachment of river channels and river banks
for building activities. A recent report in the Daily It-
tefaq of 16 June 2009 suggests that the Buriganga
River in Dhaka will no longer be considered a legiti-
mate river with a regular flow if the construction ac-
tivities around it are not immediately stopped. Such a
dramatically reduced water flow does not only under-
mine environmental sustainability but also threatens
the security of the water resources. One may question
the legitimacy of such constructions on common
property resources or on public lands, but more im-
portantly, the excessive demands for land are threat-
ening the natural river flows with long-term conse-
quences for human well-being. One may argue that
the lack of accountability, transparency and respon-
siveness of the public authorities are responsible for
the failure of the protection of water systems in Bang-
ladesh.
The influence of the national government on local
governments is another aspect of weak governance
and of poor WRM. Although there is a great demand
from civil society organizations, from non-governmen-
tal organizations (NGOs) and academics for a decen-
tralization of governance, little progress towards a real
decentralization of administration and political power
has so far taken place. A reduced control of the cen-
tral government over local authorities would lead to a
loss of power to interfere in local matters.5
Unfortunately, the lack of accountability encour-
ages many central administrators to use their author-
ity for personal benefits (figure 1.6). This systematic
top-down control is a reflection of weak governance
and the process directly and indirectly impacts nega-
tively on the country’s water resources. However,
there are certain aspects contributing to this prevail-
ing weak governance and affecting the paradigm of
WRM (figure 1.7).
Figure 1.4 illustrates the close linkages among
these factors and how these factors are contributing
to the risk of water resources due to the formulation
of weak governance. For instance, to put pressure on
the authorities for certain legal issues, a strong public
opinion is necessary. However, it is difficult to con-
sider these public issues given the low literacy rate (ca.
41 per cent) and as many people live below poverty
line.
The sensitive politics of transboundary water shar-
ing is another aspect of water security for the rural
areas of Bangladesh. Different policies on the water
use in international river basins by one country, e.g. by
India, Nepal and China affect the water availability in
Bangladesh. The Dublin principles6 emphasize the
importance of upstream and downstream users of
water as:
5 S. Kazi and K Alam, 2006: “Empowering Local Govern-
ment in Bangladesh”; at: <http://nation.ittefaq. com/
artman/publish/article_29731.shtm> (30 June 200?).
6 Four principles for IWRM were developed in Dublin
(1992) by a conference on water and environment
Principle No. 1: Fresh water is a finite and vulnerable
resource, essential to sustain life, development and the
environment;
• Principle No. 2: Water development and manage-
ment should be based on a participatory approach,
involving users, planners and policy-makers at all lev-
els;
• Principle No. 3: Women play a central part in the
provision, management and safeguarding of water;
• Principle No. 4; Water has an economic value in all
its competing uses and should be recognized as an
economic good (<www.gwpforum.org>).
Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate Change
Figure 1.7: Interlinked factors behind weak governance posing threats for water security in Bangladesh. Sources: Zillur
(2007).
Upstream users must recognize the legitimate demands
of downstream users to share the available water resour-
ces and sustain usability. Excessive consumptive use or
pollution of water by upstream users may deprive the
downstream users of their legitimate use of the shared
resource (Jonch-Clausen 2000: 15).
Bangladesh has complained about declining water
flows during the dry season (November to May) due
to the construction of Farakka Barrage on the Ganges
by India. India has started to build barrages upstream
to use the waters of two other large rivers, the Brah-
maputra and Meghna. These rivers comprise the main
sources of water for many small rivers and canals in
Bangladesh and such constructions may impede their
natural flows with dire consequences for the down-
stream ecology (Rahman 2005). The first and second
Dublin Principle on Integrated Water Resource Man-
agement (IWRM) emphasize that a “holistic manage-
ment approach”7 and effective participation by all
countries – Bangladesh, India and Nepal – are re-
quired for an efficient management of transboundary
rivers. The geopolitics of the region is undoubtedly
dominated by India and water issues continue to pro-
7 According to the EU, a holistic approach of water
resources management that is combined, ‘environmen-
tally-sound water management; food security especially
for the poor; private sector involvement; reduction of
subsidies; decentralization of decision-making to the
lowest appropriate administrative level; user participa-
tion in services; institutional reform and regulatory fra-
meworks; and cost recovery and pricing’ (EU 1999).
The definition has been taken from the paper of “Wet-
lands: water, life, and culture”, 8th Meeting of the Con-
ference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on
Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971), Valencia, Spain, 18 – 26
November 2002.
9
voke strong tensions (Hill 2008). The impacts of re-
duced flows are far-reaching downstream. Samarak-
oon (2004) has shown that besides the environmental
effects, some social and economic challenges in Bang-
ladesh can sometimes be traced to decreased water
flows in the Padma River, particularly during the dry
season when other canals and rivers also become vul-
nerable to reduced flows.
1.2.2.3 Crisis of Water Availability or
Governance
Experts have referred to weak governance as the main
problem in South Asia. For Moench, Dikshit, Rathore
and Srinivas (2003: 3 – 4) governance is the “core water
challenge in South Asia.” The fundamental challenge
posed by the water crisis in South Asia is not about
the capacity of key stakeholders (governments, NGOs
or communities) to select technical solutions or plan-
ning mechanisms. Since water challenges heavily de-
pend on the ‘constitutional foundations’ to which all
decisions are linked, the authors argue for a deeper
analysis of such foundations and if necessary the re-
thinking of these constitutions. Major questions exist
as to who does the integration of water resources
planning, whose interests are reflected in the integra-
tion process and how this process is governed to en-
sure that the interests of all stakeholders are equitably
reflected, how disputes are resolved, and above all,
which issues must be addressed through integrated
approaches (Lahiri-Dutt 2008: xxxvii). Similar opin-
ions are voiced by completely different schools of
thought. For example, whilst Shiva (2002: 1) argued
that “the water crisis is the most pervasive, most se-
vere, and most invisible dimension of the ecological
devastation of the earth” and she stressed that the wa-
10 Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt

Figure 1.8: title is needed. Source: Zillur (2007).

ter crisis is mostly a human-created crisis or water 1.3 Prospect of Social Networks to
management crisis instead of a natural crisis.8 From a Form Local Good Governance:
more technocentric perspective, Biswas9 (2006) ar-
Better Water Resources
gued similarly that the South Asian region faces “a cri-
sis of bad water management.” The Asian Develop- Management
ment Bank (ADB) also argued that “the concept of
Although it is difficult to draw a clear-cut boundary
governance is concerned directly with the manage-
line between ‘good’ and bad’ governance of water, fol-
ment of the development process” (ADB 2005).10
lowing UNESCAP, eight major characteristics are out-
Recently Turton, Hattingh, Roux, Claassen,
lined: 1) participation, 2) transparency, 3) consensus
Maree and Strydom (2007) have described strong
oriented, 4) responsiveness, 5) equity and inclusive-
governance as depending on a ‘trialogue’ between the
ness, 6) effectiveness and efficiency, 7) the rule of law
state or governments, the civil society and the scien-
and 8) accountability of what is commonly seen as
tific or technocratic experts. Their hypothesis is that
good governance (UNESCAP, 2007). Coming from
the trialogue model, consisting of six essential ele-
another perspective, Bohle (2009) considered these
ments, effectively reveals the degree of successful gov-
factors as the key to sustainable livelihoods security.
ernance. It denotes the balance between the three el-
With regard to social networks, our thesis is that
ements because governance requires the existence of
they are invaluable in mobilizing good water resource
effective science, government and society processes.
management in Bangladesh under a scenario of
Governance also requires effective interfaces between
change driven by both climate and non-climatic fac-
each of the three processes, namely society and sci-
tors. Despite a large state bureaucracy on water, non-
ence, government and society, and society and sci-
state actors continue to operate and manage water in
ence. Thus, irrespective of the philosophical perspec-
the informal sphere based on traditional social institu-
tive of the experts, rethinking its management seems
tions. The following section briefly outlines social
to be the direction towards future water security for
institutions, social capital and social network theories
not only the South Asian region, but also for Bangla-
to explore how they generate good governance from
desh. Thus, the crisis of water management may also
the local to the national level for the security of water
be defined as the crisis of governance by several equa-
resources in Bangladesh.
tions (figure 1.8).
These equations stress the significant relationship
of non-climatic conditions for water security with 1.3.1 Social Institutions
regard to governance.
The term ‘institution’ includes social activities, values,
norms, social structures and cultural systems (White/
Mohr 2008). It may also be used for ‘social institu-
tions’, which represent several interlocking social net-
works. The theory of social institutions examines cul-
8 Shiva, Vandana, 2006: “World without Water”, in: tural networks (shared stories, shared narratives,
Channel 4 [True Vision Productions broadcast, UK], 29 systems of value) and relational structures (linking
April.
9 Asit K. Biswas is the founder of the Third World Centre
meanings, values, and stories together), which are sig-
for Water Management and of the International Jour- nificant to organize social life that is directly or indi-
nal of Water Resources Development. He received the rectly related to the development of local governance
2006 Stockholm Water Prize. and WRM in Bangladesh. Social institutions theory
10 “Governance” simply means, “the process of decision- also analyses different linkages that occur across vari-
making and the process by which decisions are imple- ous orders of social phenomena (Varvasovszky/
mented (or not implemented)” (UNESCAP 2007: 1).
Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate Change
Brugha 2000). Such analyses are highly applicable to
rural areas in Bangladesh, where a duality of styles
and institutions exists, often somewhat separating the
formal and informal spheres. Both styles represent dif-
ferent sets of values that correlate with the principles
of social institutions. In Bangladesh the actors in
WRM operate through social institutions through
their values based on their behaviour.
1.3.2 Social Capital
Social capital is about values and social relationships
that facilitate human beings to act collectively. The
concept of social capital is not about “what you know,
it’s who you know” (Woolcock/Narayan, 2000: 225).
This statement recognizes the benefit of social rela-
tions. For instant, individuals who form interactions
and networks with others, mostly increase their
chance of benefit. Lin (2001) argues that ‘information
and influence’ are some of core reasons to study so-
cial capital in social networks. Sharing information
with others through social ties thus enhances the out-
comes of organizations or the activities of individuals.
By using the theory of social capital, it will be possible
to explain the investment in social ties that increases
the level of information and would then influence the
actors, the key players in decision-making or holding
strategic positions who can influence developing
good governance to improve WRM in Bangladesh.
1.3.3 Social Network
Social network analysts argue that the social environ-
ment is based on the relationships among interacting
units. According to Wasserman and Faust (1994)
social network analysis looks critically at the charac-
teristics of social units and understands how these ties
influence properties of the social structural environ-
ment. In Bangladesh, a significant part of the analysis
is influenced by social relationships. By using social
network analysis, key concepts (such as actor, rational
tie, dyad, triad, subgroup, and group) of the theory
are used to explain how WRM is influenced by social
prestige, groups or clique, social cohesion, social posi-
tion, social role and mutuality in the local areas in
Bangladesh. Selection to use the social network to
represent the relational tie, where actors are linked by
social ties with each other and it establishes a linkage
between two actors or a pair or three actors or groups
of actors. At the local level in Bangladesh, a group is
recognized as a collection of all actors where relation-
ships are considered.
11
1.3.4 Coping with the 1998 Floods by Social
Networking
As an example of how the social elements play a cru-
cial role during a great crisis the case of the 1998
flood in Bangladesh is discussed below. Heavy mon-
soonal rain, lack of sufficient culverts and insufficient
drainage contributed to an intensive flood where
about 39 out of the 64 districts were flooded, break-
ing all hydrological records (Nasreen 1999). The flood
waters devastated agricultural crops and disrupted
farming activities for several months, and destroyed
the sources of fisheries and farm livestock (Ahmed
1999). Millions of people lost their homes and took
shelters on higher grounds, such as the river embank-
ments. Not only were their houses destroyed, roads
and other communication infrastructure were also
damaged. Flood refugees took shelter in nearby
schools and colleges around the villages, and it was
extremely difficult to send food and other relief aid
immediately to all remote locations. However, there
was a low number of fatalities; villagers managed to
survive based on mutual support in flood-affected
communities. Many civil society organizations mobi-
lized their strengths and brought assistance to those
in need. Ordinary citizens helped each other, large
amounts of clothes, khicuri (cooked rice and lentil)
and drinking water were provided to them by local un-
affected people. Students from colleges and schools
collected food, money and medicines from bazars.
Imams, priests and gurus of mosques, churches and
temples collected food, clothes as gifts to flood af-
fected people. Even those who were affected by the
flood tried to extend their help to others to transport
their goods and cattle to higher locations. Mobiliza-
tion of the civil society helped to avert a major post-
flood disaster. This case of a disaster response illus-
trates the use of social theories in the communities in
Bangladesh.
Looking back at the social mobilization, a noted
Bangladeshi thinker, Sobhan (1999: 41) prescribed:
“Efforts by the government to keep track of such
emerging problems would be greatly facilitated by
drawing upon the efforts of civil society that is already
in the field fully involved with the relief process.” The
collection of best practices, examples of difficulties,
storing of this information in an easily accessible
form, and easy communication of such information
can play an important role in averting human trage-
dies in a post-flood situation. Bangladesh is a flood-
prone land, where climatic and non-climatic drivers
add to these flood risks. Unless social institutions are
12
Figure 1.9: Participatory approach facilitates creating good governance. Source: Zillur (2007).
strengthened at the local level and social capital is
mobilized, it will remain impossible to grant security
to ordinary citizens.
1.3.5 Theories of Social Capital and Social
Networks as Inputs for Good
Governance
Participation by all is the first step to create an envi-
ronment of good governance. Social capital and bal-
anced social networks facilitate the willingness of all
people, including the poor and the marginalized, to
participate (core of good governance), and it opens
potentials for development, by using more local
knowledge collectively and increasing the chance of
consensus-oriented activities in the communities.
Strong social networks and ties will develop transpar-
ency to participants since people will be more inter-
ested to keep progress in the society. Automatically, it
creates local public accountability.
Therefore, social networks and approaches based
on social capital enhance local participation and pro-
Mohammed Rahman Zillur and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
mote inclusiveness, transparency and accountability,
which are the fundamental characteristics of good
governance. Figure 1.9 shows the input of social net-
works (social capital) to generate a willingness to par-
ticipate in community activities. This leads to the for-
mation of good local governance. When there is good
governance, there is a good management. This will
then contribute to improve local people’s living condi-
tions thereby encouraging top authorities and politi-
cians to adopt and implement good approaches and
efficient policies for water security in the country.
1.3.6 Social Networks for Creating Good
Governance
Based on the above discussion, increased motivations
of local actors and water users holds the potential to
trigger bottom-up changes in WRM in Bangladesh
with regard to changes by climate-driven and non-cli-
matic factors. Local practices of good governance
may influence local elites, who have good connection
with higher authorities responsible for decision-mak-
Ensuring Water Security in Rural Areas of Bangladesh under Climate Change 13

ing in the formal sphere. Since political leaders are the one hand there will be further reductions to fresh-
well-connected in local areas, there are possibilities water supplies, on the other the melting of the Hima-
that they may be influenced to adopt local principles layan glaciers will change the volume and frequency of
of good governance on a national and international monsoonal floods and change the river regimes in
scale. Such changes in governance may cross national Bangladesh.
boundaries to address complex transboundary water The chapter ends with a question for further re-
issues that are essen-tial for securing water resources search: what are the determinants of social networks
for Bangladesh. In other words, good WRM practices for the sustainability of WRM in rural areas of Bang-
arising from the local context can spread to govern- ladesh? This question will address the existing re-
ance of the global level. search gap by incorporating social networks to ex-
Flood mitigation, after all is not a so-called simple plore what parts of social networks are important,
matter of controlling a natural hazard. Floods are in- why they are important, and how they influence the
deed a natural occurrence, but they are also “socially development of sustainable WRM strategies in Bang-
produced” through the interaction of the physical in- ladesh.
cident and social vulnerabilities (Lebel/Nikitina/Ma-
nuta 2006: 3). Consequently there is a need to go be-
yond the purely technical solutions to mitigating the
risks of increased flood or other water insecurities
that are envisaged for the future. The technical meas-
ures, as noted by Dixit (2003: 166) only intensify flood
and related problems and largely ignore the mitiga-
tion potential during the period of normalcy between
two extreme events. Shen (chap. xy) has also consist-
ently emphasized the importance of perception as the
key factor for developing a mitigation plan to reduce
flood risks, and has suggested that instead of risk ex-
ternalization, the interests of vulnerable social groups
needs be considered and an integrated flood mitiga-
tion approach needs to be adopted. As suggested by
Yohe and Strzepek (2007), for reducing the risks of
climate change impacts on the waters of South Asian
countries, mitigation and adaptation strategies will
need to go hand in hand, and for this purpose, a
greater understanding of the social institutions will be
absolutely vital to improve the governance of water.

1.4 Conclusions
This chapter has addressed a diverse range of issues
related to the security and sustainability of WRM in
Bangladesh in the context of the looming threat of cli-
mate change and the complex social and political fac-
tors including weak governance in the country. It has
suggested that social networks could play an impor-
tant role in ensuring security at the micro-levels, and
the promotion of people-centred water management,
particularly for the densely populated country, Bang-
ladesh. Whilst the increasing gap between demand
and supply of water has led to a deepening water cri-
sis in the country, climate change has posed a serious
challenge for future water resource management. On