Social Background of Riverbank Erosion Areas in Bramaptra and Ganges Rivers: Implication for Japanese Hazard Mapping Technology in Bangladesh

Abstract

Since Japan and Bangladesh are frequently affected by flood, measures have been developed. Some of Japanese measures are applicable in Bangladesh, if it is adjusted to fit the local condition. In this research, social background in riverbank erosion areas in Bangladesh is analyzed for discussing possible way of transferring hazard mapping technology, which is a Japanese major technology for flood risk reduction. Semi-structured interview and questionnaire survey were conducted in the selected areas for perceiving social background. The results were compared to Japanese flood condition and social back ground. The result shows three major differences: (1) The shapes of rivers and villages change every after flood, which makes difficult to update map. (2) There is enough time to prepare for evacuation (3) People are not able to interpret map. These major results show using hazard map as the same as Japan is impossible in the selected areas, however the map to tell the longer existing area may be useful for the selected areas. Since the hazard mapping technology has possibility to tell the safe/long existing area, different use of hazard mapping technology is expected.