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Energy Utilization Strategies for Transportation and Commercial Activities in the Precarious Habitat: A Case of Disaster-Affected Communities in Charland Bangladesh

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Economics and Policy of Energy and Environmental Sustainability

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Abstract

The present paper is wedded to focus on the energy utilization strategies for transportation and commercial activities of disaster-affected communities in precarious Padma riverine habitats of charland Bangladesh. The highly uncertain natural disaster-induced energy utilization strategies and sustainable development in two charland communities are focused here. In the lack of clean and renewable energy consumption services, the disaster-affected charland communities are forced to be dependent on the traditional energy uses in their transportation and commercial activities. The SDG goal of affordable and clean energy is found mostly questionable in this unstable ecological reality of the charland communities as they have no access to environmentally compatible and sustainable energy systems. These adversities of charland livelihood regularly create hindrances and challenges to sustainable development in case of energy use. Direct interviewing with the purposively chosen displacee char-dwellers of two study villages, focus group discussions (FGDs), case studies, and informal interviews with some relevant stakeholders are adopted for empirical data collection. Both the qualitative and quantitative data and their relevant measurement and interpretation of the social reality of two study charland communities are considered for finalizing the findings of this study. A number of suggestive policy measures based on empirical findings for ensuring energy consumption are embedded in the final job of this study.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is a small islet accreted intermittently at the bottom of a river during the rainy season. It may be sustained for one season or for more than that. In Bangladesh, charlands are usually found in the major rivers, such as the Padma, the Jamuna, and the Meghna. The riverbank erosion displacees and/or other riparian people use these lands for agricultural productions and also they start to dwell on these lands for continuing their livelihoods with charland resources. In these contexts, the charland-grabbing conflicts and charland ownership resttlements are regulated by the Bengal Regulations XI, 1825 (Wilson, 1855) since the British India Regime.

  2. 2.

    Though “samaj” is a Bangla word that means society, it is a lowest unit of informal rural organization in Bangladesh. It is headed by traditional leaders selected from dominant families in the neighborhood. All sorts of festivals (informal and/or traditional) in the neighborhood are organized and/or administered by these tradtional leaders of samaj. They also provide counseling with the members of their samaj in regard to familial, juridical, and/or other local everyday issues. Such smallest councils of Punjabi village of Pakistan and of Rajshahi village of Bangladesh are studied by Georgian anthropologist Zekiye Suleyman Eglar (1960) and Bangladeshi anthropologist A H M Zehadul Karim (1990), respectively.

  3. 3.

    Charland related and/or based on the subculture of charland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh

    M. Zulfiquar Ali Islam

  2. Department of Sociology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, 8100, Bangladesh

    Tulika Podder

  3. International Affairs and Global Governance, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P. R. China

    M. Anisur Rahaman

  4. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, 8100, Bangladesh

    M. Anisur Rahaman

  5. Department of Sociology, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Bangladesh

    Shammy Islam

  6. Department of Sociology, Bangladesh University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Samoly Aktar

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  1. Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, Sapt Sindhu Parisar-I, Dehra, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Narendra N. Dalei

  2. Research and Information System for Developing Countries, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Anshuman Gupta

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Zulfiquar Ali Islam, M., Podder, T., Rahaman, M.A., Islam, S., Aktar, S. (2022). Energy Utilization Strategies for Transportation and Commercial Activities in the Precarious Habitat: A Case of Disaster-Affected Communities in Charland Bangladesh. In: Dalei, N.N., Gupta, A. (eds) Economics and Policy of Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5061-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5061-2_3

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