Land tenure and natural disasters: Bangladesh
Other programmes – such as CARE’s Shouhardo and the EU-funded HISAL (Haor Initiative for Sustainable Alternative Livelihood) programme by Concern Worldwide – work closely with UDMCs in a number of ways. For example, they help to strengthen their capacity and help them in realising several flood protection measures, such as replanting indigenous trees along community banks (to reduce wave erosion), and introducing early-maturing rice varieties which can be harvested before flash floods are likely to occur. However, post-disaster rehabilitation and adequate support for livelihoods, including land tenure, are areas which require more attention from policy makers. Coordination among government bodies and local level institutions is required, as highlighted by the Sidr case below. During early recovery stages, agencies in charge of resettlement planning and programmes must consider for example that the resettlement areas identified are not located in hazardous zones, and ensure that the lease deeds for landownership are clear and registered to ensure tenure security for the resettled households. The beneficiary households should also be clearly identified and belong to the most affected and needy category of households. Too often, resettlement programmes are rushed and not implemented with sufficient care, causing problems during their implementation and also in the long term: people are again affected by natural disasters because they have been resettled in marginal, disaster-prone areas, or registration of land title deeds is disputed, leading to violence over land and disputes over land settlements.
is a testament to improved community preparedness measures and a huge credit to the 43 000 volunteers working under the government-funded ‘Cyclone Preparedness Programme’.
SIDR AND LAND TENURE ISSUES A reconnaissance survey on landlessness in the six Sidrhit areas was conducted by UN-Habitat to gather indepth information on shelter conditions of the affected households. The survey results showed that 31 percent had no homestead land whatsoever, and about 66 percent had homestead land with land rights certificates that proved ownership (see Table 6). TABLE 6 – Land tenure status of Sidr affected households LAND TENURE OF RESPONDENTS
FREQUENCY
PERCENT
115
63.19
Had a land rights certificate but have lost it
6
3.30
Never had a land rights certificate but occupy land
4
2.20
57
31.31
182
100.0
Have a land rights certificate
Don’t have any land on which a house can be built Total
Source: Socio-economic survey of Sidr hit households, UN-Habitat, Dec 2007.
FIGURE 1 – Flood 2007 and cyclone Sidr affected area
3.7 Case Study: Sidr cyclone The southern districts of Bangladesh were severely hit by the powerful Sidr cyclone on 15th November, 2007. More than nine million people were affected, and the death toll was around 4000. It is estimated that more than 563 000 houses and 2240 schools and colleges were destroyed; 955 000 houses and 11 490 educational buildings were partially damaged within the affected districts. After cyclone Sidr’s landfall, the government, armed forces, local civil organizations and volunteers, all moved quickly to mount search-andrescue operations and to distribute food, water, clothing and other emergency items to cyclone survivors. The reduced death toll compared with previous cyclones42
42
The Cyclone Sidr death toll of approximately 4000 people is 35 times lower than the 1991 Gorky cyclone and 125 times lower than the 1970 cyclone Bhola.
63
