Environmental hazards and community responses in Sagar Island, India
Highlights
► Perception of adverse effects of environmental hazards varies across occupation. ► Impact of erosion is concentrated within limited occupational groups. ► Cyclones are widespread among all occupational groups. ► Management strategies should incorporate these varied perceptions.
Introduction
闾茹Human beings' perception of environment varying between individuals, groups or communities basically depends on the question of their ability to receive, store and analyse information about the environment and its vagaries. The perception study, therefore, plays a significant role in the management of environmental hazards. As most of the island-inhabitants of the world are constantly threatened by natural hazards often of serious proportion, these are considered the most vulnerable habitats for human beings as well as all other living creatures. Nunn et al. (1999) has not only analysed the harmful effects of coastal issues on oceanic islands resulting from recent environmental changes but infers that all inhabited islands of the world may possibly ‘disappear’ by the end of the twenty-first century.
Sagar Island, a part of Sundarban coast, is a classic example of a tidal island which has been at the receiving end of severe environmental hazards. As far as perception study is concerned, the island is prone to as many as four types of natural hazards i.e. erosion, cyclones, tidal surges and floods. The interplay of accretion and erosion is a regular feature of the Sagar Island. Between 1967 and 1999, the eroded area of the Sagar Island has been recorded as 29.80 km2 while the accreted area was only 6.03 km2 and from 1996 to 1998, the eroded area was 13.64 km2 and accreted area was only 0.48 km2 (Gopinath and Seralathan, 2005). According to Dinesh Kumar et al. (2007), from 1998 to 1999, the accreted area of the Island was only 0.08 km2 while the eroded area was 3.26 km2. Gopinath (2010) has poignantly observed that the clay mining activities, action of oceanic waves, river water and tidal currents of Hugli and Muri Ganga Rivers are mainly responsible for the erosion in the Island. Again, the Sagar Island is positioned in the cyclone-prone region. Samanta (1997) offers a study of the perception of cyclone hazards in coastal areas in West Bengal. Paul (2002) mentioned that ‘high magnitude cyclones occur once in 2.8 years in the Sundarban coast’. Purkait (2009), while discussing coastal erosion in response to wave dynamics in the island, stated that floods and tidal surges are frequently lash the Island.
The Sagar Island is located in Sagar Block in South 24 Parganas District in West Bengal. The Island is lying at the estuary of the River Hugli, considered a part of estuarine island system which has been formed due to the sediment deposits of the River Hugli. Total geographical area of the Sagar Island is 272 km2. The average elevation of the Island is, according to Majumdar and Das (2011), around ∼3 m from mean sea level. A large number of tidal creeks are found in the Island. Again, the climate of the Island is classified as tropical monsoon type. More importantly, as some environmental critics have observed, the mangrove vegetation in Sagar Island got unexpectedly reduced from 2.1 km2 to 1.3 km2 within a brief span of year i.e., 1998–1999 (Dinesh Kumar et al., 2007). According to Census of India (2001), the total population of the Sagar Island is 180,408. People of this region are mainly engaged in farming, fishing, tourism and transport services, business and industry. The Sagar Island is divided into 43 Mouzas (including two uninhabited Mouzas), out of which 15 Mouzas i.e. Sikarpur, Mandirtala, Gobindapur, Kaylapara, Mrityunjoynagar, Sumatinagar, Bankimnagar, Krishnanagar, Naraharipur, Radha Krishnapur, Chandipur, Mahishamari, Beguakhali, Chemaguri and Dhablat comprise the survey-area of this theoretico-empirical enterprise. Again these 15 Mouzas constitute an area of 85.5 km2 having 57,889 inhabitants (Census of India, 2001). (Fig. 1).
One of the objectives of the study is, therefore, to analyse the perceptions of the people, belonging to the main occupational groups inhabiting the island, about the adverse effects of the major environmental hazards. The study along the lines of its collected empirical and qualitative understanding proposes effective strategies for the management of environmental hazards within the study-area.
Section snippets
Methodology
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Primary data have been collected from field survey. Secondary data have been collected from various Government Reports, premier research journals and books.
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Four major environmental hazards i.e. i) erosion [E] ii) cyclones [C] iii) tidal surges [T] and iv) floods [F] have been considered for the study of perception of the inhabitants of the Sagar Island. The study of perception exclusively focuses on the adverse impact of these hazards.
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Seven main occupational categories i.e. i) Cultivator (C)
Regional variations
There is a marked regional variation of the adverse effects of these selected environmental hazards. Mouza-wise scores for all occupational groups have been calculated on the basis of a 9 point scale. The maximum score for erosion and cyclones is in Mahishamari Mouza whereas the minimum score for erosion is in Mandirtala Mouza and for cyclone it is in Gobindapur Mouza. The maximum score for tidal surges was found in Mandirtala Mouza and minimum in Mrityunjoynagar Mouza. In case of floods
Conclusions
Planning and management of environmental hazards would attain its intended goals only after active, whole-hearted participation of local people in the process. Experiences and expertise that have been perpetuating through generations in the Island have to be tapped and incorporated to develop and give shape to an effective disaster management plan. To start with the participatory process, perception study about the environment is a well-accepted method. From the study of perception of the
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