Majuli is a large and populous river island in the India state of Assam. The island suffers from the erosional work of River Brahmaputra, and this has led to the loss of land and the resultant displacement of population in 110 out of 243 villages. However, those affected by riverbank erosion do not qualify for any assistance by the Central and State governments because erosion is not classified as a natural hazard under Indian laws. This is because erosion is considered a slow process and also because riverbank eorsion is a localised event in India. Therefore, the national policy on disaster management as spelled out in the Disaster Management Act, doesn't cover riverbak erosion. The most significant impact of riverbank erosion has been on the livelihood pattern of the island, as erosion has affected both agriculture and fishing activities. Moreover, the impact of erosion is not felt equally by the entire population of Majuli. Those who live near the banks of the river are disproportionately affected by erosion, while those living in the more central parts of the island have in some cases benefitted from it. Thus, the disaster management effort in Majuli is impeded by two issues. Firstly, the problem in Majuli is often overlooked during planning at national level, and secondly, even in Majuli, their are regional pockets which are more affected than the rest of the island. Both these problems arise because of homogensation of space in disaster studies and can be solved using a mutli-scalar approach to disaster management. One such approach is regional political ecology. While regions have always been a part of geography, their focus on specificity of geographical areas can be used in the co-construction of nature, place and society in any disaster affected area. Using the example of Majuli, the paper shows how regional approach of geography or regional geography can be applied in Majuli for developing risk reduction strategies at a multi-scalar level.
Mots clés : Majuli|Riverbank Erosion|Brahmaputra|Regional Political Ecology|Regional Geography
A103002AS