How Do Vulnerable People in Bangladesh Experience Environmental Stress From Sedimentation in the Haor Wetlands? An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The haor landscape is a wetland ecosystem in northeast Bangladesh, comprising shallow depressions that undergo large changes in water inundation between the monsoon and dry seasons. Sediment is supplied to the haor from rivers originating in the adjacent Shillong Plateau, and can adversely affect these largely arable agricultural lands. The critical adverse effects of changing hydrology and enhanced sedimentation due to anthropogenic change include the reduction of natural water storage capacity, changes in the timing and magnitude of floods, and increasing loss and damage to crops, which consequently affect the livelihoods of wetland dwellers. This study employs a mixed‐methods approach to investigate how sedimentation has affected the livelihoods of the residents and the pressures they experience. Cross‐sectional surveys and interviews were conducted with 180 respondents in Lubar and Pochashul Haors (LPH), Sunamganj District, and allied with an analysis of satellite images that reveals the nature of landscape change over the past 56 years. Our findings confirm that sedimentation has been promoted through both natural processes of alluvial fan progradation and anthropogenic forcings. Enhanced sedimentation threatens the agriculture of the region and affects the livelihood of local inhabitants, leading to other societal issues related to income, education, employment, health, displacement, and sexual harassment. The mixed methods employed herein are essential tools to reveal these effects. In order to reduce the vulnerability of the local population, a transboundary dialog between India and Bangladesh is needed to realize measures to protect wetland resources and achieve progress towards environmental sustainability.

Full text

1. Introduction and Background
The haor landscape (Figure1) comprises a large, shallow tectonic depression in the northeastern part of Bangla-
desh that becomes inundated to a depth of 5m or more during the monsoonal annual rainy season. Haor covers
an area of approximately 2 million hectares (19,998km
2) and supports a population of 19.37 million people
(Chakraborty etal.,2021; Kamal etal.,2018). The haor basin is actively subsiding, and its hydrological, topo-
graphical, geomorphological, and socioeconomic features are distinctive as compared to other parts of Bangla-
desh (Chakraborty, Mondal, etal.,2012; Chowdhury, Kamal, etal.,2012; IUCN,2015). The geology of the haor
basin consists of 13–20km thick alluvial and deltaic deposits underlain by gneisses and granites, and the basin is
bounded by the Shillong Plateau to the north (Figure1), the Indo-Burman Range to the east, and the Indian Shield
to the west. Non-calcareous, non-saline gray alluvium and acidic, alkaline clays are the most common soils within
the basin (DBHWD,2017), which is predominantly topographically flat but possesses some low hills that are
covered with rainforest, tea and rubber plantations. The haor is very close to the towns of Cherrapunji (Figure1)
and Mawsynram, which are considered to be the rainiest places in the world, with an average annual rainfall of
11,755mm and an average rainfall of 1,700 and 7,400mm in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively
(Basher etal.,2018; Rahman etal.,2020). As a result, the haor region receives significant runoff from 23 small
transboundary rivers, including the Surma-Baulai, Kalni-Kushiyara, and Kangsa-Dhanu rivers, which originate
in the hill regions of neighboring India. Seventy percent of the total catchment area of these rivers depends on
three Indian States: Meghalaya, Assam, and Tripura (CEGIS,2012). This abundant runoff enables the annual
flooding of the haor region (Figure2) to depths of 5–7m, and much of the area is thus characterized by regular
yearly inundation.
Abstract The haor landscape is a wetland ecosystem in northeast Bangladesh, comprising shallow
depressions that undergo large changes in water inundation between the monsoon and dry seasons. Sediment
is supplied to the haor from rivers originating in the adjacent Shillong Plateau, and can adversely affect these
largely arable agricultural lands. The critical adverse effects of changing hydrology and enhanced sedimentation
due to anthropogenic change include the reduction of natural water storage capacity, changes in the timing and
magnitude of floods, and increasing loss and damage to crops, which consequently affect the livelihoods of
wetland dwellers. This study employs a mixed-methods approach to investigate how sedimentation has affected
the livelihoods of the residents and the pressures they experience. Cross-sectional surveys and interviews were
conducted with 180 respondents in Lubar and Pochashul Haors (LPH), Sunamganj District, and allied with
an analysis of satellite images that reveals the nature of landscape change over the past 56years. Our findings
confirm that sedimentation has been promoted through both natural processes of alluvial fan progradation
and anthropogenic forcings. Enhanced sedimentation threatens the agriculture of the region and affects the
livelihood of local inhabitants, leading to other societal issues related to income, education, employment,
health, displacement, and sexual harassment. The mixed methods employed herein are essential tools to reveal
these effects. In order to reduce the vulnerability of the local population, a transboundary dialog between
India and Bangladesh is needed to realize measures to protect wetland resources and achieve progress towards
environmental sustainability.
ISLAM ETAL.
© 2022. American Geophysical Union.
All Rights Reserved.
How Do Vulnerable People in Bangladesh Experience
Environmental Stress From Sedimentation in the Haor
Wetlands? An Exploratory Study
Mohammad Nazrul Islam1, Shah Md Atiqul Haq2 , Khandaker Jafor Ahmed3 , and Jim Best4
1Environmental Policy Institute (EPI), Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL, Canada,
2Department of Sociology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh, 3Department of Geography,
Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 4Departments of Geology, Geography and
GIS and Mechanical Science and Engineering and Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
Key Points:
• Sedimentation has fostered a new
pattern of local disasters in wetland
areas
• Both natural and anthropogenic
factors cause accelerated
sedimentation
• Enhanced sedimentation can lead
to societal issues related to income,
education, employment, health,
displacement, and sexual harassment
Supporting Information:
Supporting Information may be found in
the online version of this article.
Correspondence to:
S. M. Atiqul Haq,
shahatiq-soc@sust.edu;
shahatiq1@yahoo.com
Citation:
Islam, M. N., Atiqul Haq, S. M.,
Ahmed, K. J., & Best, J. (2022). How
do vulnerable people in Bangladesh
experience environmental stress from
sedimentation in the haor wetlands?
An exploratory study. Water Resources
Research, 58, e2021WR030241. https://
doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030241
Received 5 FEB 2022
Accepted 22 JUN 2022
Author Contributions:
Conceptualization: Mohammad Nazrul
Islam, Shah Md Atiqul Haq, Khandaker
Jafor Ahmed, Jim Best
Data curation: Mohammad Nazrul
Islam, Shah Md Atiqul Haq
Formal analysis: Mohammad Nazrul
Islam, Jim Best
Investigation: Mohammad Nazrul Islam
Methodology: Mohammad Nazrul Islam,
Shah Md Atiqul Haq, Khandaker Jafor
Ahmed, Jim Best
Supervision: Shah Md Atiqul Haq
Validation: Shah Md Atiqul Haq,
Khandaker Jafor Ahmed, Jim Best
Visualization: Jim Best
Writing – original draft: Mohammad
Nazrul Islam, Shah Md Atiqul Haq
Writing – review & editing: Shah Md
Atiqul Haq, Khandaker Jafor Ahmed,
Jim Best
10.1029/2021WR030241
RESEARCH ARTICLE
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The water level in the haor reaches its peak during the monsoon, approximately from June to October, with water
returning to the rivers post-monsoon when most of the area becomes extensive agricultural land (Figure2), espe-
cially for rice cultivation (Islam & Akter,2017; IUCN,2015; Rahman etal.,2020). Due to the large inflow of
water, there are approximately 47 large haors and more than 6000 freshwater lakes locally known as beels in this
region, of which almost 50% are seasonal (DBHWD,2016). These flooded depressions possess high biodiver-
sity and are home to 200 species of aquatic plants, 11 species of amphibians, 257 species of birds, 29 species of
mammals and 40 species of reptiles (DBHWD,2017).
These wetlands are also highly productive and diverse fish nursery grounds, including 143 native freshwater
species, 12 exotic species and several species of freshwater shrimp (Alam etal.,2015; DBHWD,2017). In addi-
tion, during winter, the region hosts over 200 species of migratory waterfowl, including 10,000–150,000 ducks
(GED,2017). Similarly, the haor contributes significantly to agriculture in Bangladesh, with c. 15% of the total
rice harvest, 20% of the total fish yield, 14% of the total inland fish production, and 35% of the total surface water
for irrigation provided by the haor region (DBHWD,2017; Sumon & Islam,2013). More than 24% of Bangla-
desh’s total duck population and about 33 million cattle, goats, sheep, and poultry also live in the haor region
(DBHWD,2017), which thus forms a vital ecological and agricultural region.
These rich and diverse ecosystems are also a significant source of livelihood for more than 20 million people in
the haor region. However, the ecosystem of these wetlands has been degraded significantly due to: (a) changing
rainfall patterns linked to climate change, (b) uncontrolled resource use, including deforestation, and mining
activities such as coal, limestone and sand mining, both in the lower haor basin and upstream in the Indian Hills,
and (c) reduction in the area and depth of water bodies due to sedimentation. Parts of the haor landscape have
thus become one of the major disaster areas in Bangladesh that are prone to flash floods and environmental
pollution (Chakraborty, Mondal, etal.,2012; Chowdhury, Kamal, etal.,2012; Haq & Ahmed,2017; Masood &
Takeuchi,2016; Uddin etal.,2013).
Flash floods in the region can rapidly inundate low-lying areas and usually occur within minutes to hours after
excessive rainfall, with their duration being less than 6hours (Sumon & Islam,2013). Due to the geographic
location of the wetlands, these recurring floods are a common occurrence for haor residents adjacent to the
hills, and play a devastating and widespread role in the region (Ferdushi etal.,2019; Haque etal.,2021; Kamal
et al., 2018; Roy etal., 2019). On average, severe flash floods occur once every 3 years in the haor region
(Chakraborty etal.,2021), and it is important to address the question of why recent flash floods have played a
persistently destructive role in the haor basin. Research has documented the nature of alluvial fan growth at the
Figure 1. Location of the study region in northeast Bangladesh, showing location of towns/cities and features referred
to in the text. The haors studied herein are Pochashul and Lubar haors. Locations of coal mining after McDuie-Ra and
Kikon(2016) and fault locations are sourced from Morino etal.(2014).

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Figure 2. Landsat images of the haor landscape in 2019 during: (a) the dry season (23 January), (b) in the initial stages of flooding on 15 May, and (c) on 20
September, together with (d) the hydrograph for the gauge station on the Jadukata Fan River, whose location is denoted by a blue square in (a). JF denotes Jadukata Fan,
and the area outlined by white dashed lines shows study area and villages (see Figure4). Arrows in (c) point to sediment plumes emerging into the haor floodplain from
distributary channels. A swipe image comparison of the 23 January and 20 September images is available in Figure S1 in Supporting InformationS1.

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break in slope between the hills and lowland basin (Alam & Islam,2017), and suggested that flash floods have
become more destructive due to sedimentation in the water bodies (Rahman etal., 2018; Uddin et al.,2016).
Increased precipitation and flooding have also been proposed to accelerate these sedimentation processes (Alam
& Islam,2017; Aziz etal.,2021; DBHWD,2017; Dey etal.,2021; IUCN,2015). However, it is also important
to examine the role of other anthropogenic factors, such as the impacts of mining, coal/limestone contamination,
deforestation and enhanced sediment production, and lack of channel maintenance, in influencing sedimentation
processes in the haor landscape.
Sediment sourced from India, and transported during the monsoon season through the dense drainage network of
rivers and small water streams (CEGIS,2012; Chakraborty etal.,2021), replenishes soil fertility every year, and
the people in the region have benefitted from its use for centuries (GED,2017). In addition, agricultural expan-
sion in the wetlands increases as the water bodies are infilled with sand and silt (Uddin etal.,2013).
However, sedimentation also poses a major threat to the haor wetlands, as all significant water bodies in these
permanent wetlands have, to some extent, been converted to seasonal water bodies due to sedimentation. This
has resulted in a reduction in the diversity and availability of different water sources, a decrease in natural water
circulation, and an increase in the severity of floods (Ayeb-Karlsson etal.,2016; Jakariya etal.,2020; Rahman
etal.,2018). Therefore, the question arises as to how sedimentation in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh impacts
the livelihoods of the people living there. Although research has described the various impacts of flash floods in
the region, few studies have focused on the human impacts on sedimentation in the floodplains of the haor region.
Although sedimentation issues are known to be important in wetlands and rivers in Bangladesh (DBHWD,2017;
Islam etal.,2020), Nepal (Kafle etal., 2017), India (Mishra & Jena,2015; Ranjan, 2019) and Kenya (Lwenya
& Yongo,2010), there is little empirical evidence on how, and to what extent, local livelihoods are affected by
sedimentation in these floodplains. The present study aims to address this gap by examining how residents of the
haor region are affected by flash floods and associated sedimentation, and how they cope with these problems.
The structure of the paper is as follows. The first section introduces the conceptual framework of the study, and
is followed by a description of the methodology, which includes data collection techniques, sampling methods
and data analysis. The results section examines the vulnerability of the study area to sedimentation and its impli-
cations, with the discussion and conclusions summarizing the principal findings, and providing suggestions for
further research and policy recommendations.
2. Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework of the present study (Figure3) is based on three key concepts: disturbance factors,
environmental stresses such as sedimentation, and stress severity and vulnerability. Sedimentation in the haor
wetlands is considered ecological stress generated by both natural processes and anthropogenic causes, including:
(a) increased flooding due to changes in rainfall, (b) the impacts of mining in the neighboring Indian state of
Meghalaya, (c) deforestation and resultant sedimentation in both the haor and adjacent hills of Meghalaya, and
(d) inadequate maintenance of waterways and canals. As a result, different levels of stress severity and vulnera-
bility of livelihoods were identified in the study area and classified into three broad categories: (a) the severity of
stress caused by depletion of livelihood resources and uprooting/migration of individuals and families, including
unsustainable employment patterns, environmental uprooting and associated livestock and poultry mortality; (b)
the severity of stress caused by resource depletion and environmental pollution, such as fuel and water shortages,
resource-related violence and social tensions, and water and soil pollution-related diseases; (c) the severity of
stresses caused by desertification, land-use change and loss of biodiversity, such as the intensity of drought and
irrigation problems in agricultural production, overloading of drainage systems, loss of water resources, and
the frequency and magnitude of flash floods. The present paper explores the nature and context of these critical
variables through field research.
2.1. Natural Processes of Sedimentation
The haor landscape is dominated by floodplain sedimentation, and is characterized by deposition from alluvial
fans onto a low lying region that is undergoing active tectonic subsidence (IUCN,2015). Previous research has
illustrated recent changes in the Jadukata Fan (Alam & Islam,2017) and shown how the growth and morphology

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of the fan are controlled by the active neotectonics, such as fan widening being linked to the Dauki fault (Figure1),
and channel avulsions being related to seismic activity. In addition, Alam and Islam(2017) highlight the nature
of fan progradation through the growth of lobes at the distal ends of distributary channels, and that these indicate
the rate of sedimentation is exceeding the rate of basin subsidence in the area. A series of alluvial fans of different
sizes are formed from the rivers exiting the Shillong Plateau at the abrupt break in slope at the base of the hills
(Figure1). These fans possess a series of radial distributary channels that feed sediment into the haor basin and
act as the conduits for transporting sediment into the water bodies, and several crevasse splays can be identified
on the distal Jadukata Fan as sediment-laden waters enter the haor flood basin (Alam & Islam,2017; see arrows
in Figure2c). The hill region is prone to landslides, especially during the rainy season, and during the monsoon
season, very heavy rains transport gravel, sand and silt from the upstream areas and deposit them both on the fans
and in the floodplain regions further downstream in the haor. The soils on the alluvial fans are generally poorly to
incompletely drained, brown, very mottled, loamy sand to clay loam, poorly textured and with a strong to extreme
reaction to acid (Das,2012; IUCN,2015).
2.2. Anthropogenic Influences on Sedimentation
Various anthropogenic influences upon sedimentation, such as climate change (e.g., changes in precipitation),
mining activities and associated sediment yields, deforestation, and lack of channel maintenance, have been
reasoned to encourage sedimentation within the haor landscape (DBHWD, 2017; Dey et al., 2021; Kamal
etal.,2018; Masood & Takeuchi,2016; Nowreen etal.,2015; Rafiuddin etal.,2010; Rahman etal.,2018).
2.2.1. Increased Flooding Due To High Precipitation in the Northeast Region of Bangladesh and India
The haor region in Bangladesh lies adjacent to the foothills of the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura.
Here, the warm, humid winds from the Bay of Bengal rise to 1,400m above sea level and their moisture triggers
heavy rainfall over the Shillong Plateau and haor basin (Masood & Takeuchi,2016). However, these rainfall
Figure 3. Conceptual framework for the current study.

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patterns have changed in recent decades, increasing the risk of flooding (DBHWD,2017; Dey etal.,2021; Kamal
etal.,2018; Rahman etal.,2018). Dey etal.(2021), using data from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department,
noted that total rainfall in March and April 2017 was 194% and 237% higher in Sreemangal and 154% and 133%
higher in Sylhet than the average rainfall of these months in the preceding 30years (1988–2017). This rainfall in
the haor Basin and adjacent Indian sub-basins led to the unprecedented floods of 2017. Rafiuddin etal.(2010)
used radar data from 2000 to 2005 to show that cloud fronts with a southwestern arc cause approximately 27%
of the annual precipitation in the northeastern region. The average duration of a single precipitation episode is
about four and a half hours, with storms moving up to 11m/s. This abnormal rainfall softens the soils and shapes
the surface structure of the landscape, causing runoff that leads to flooding. Chakraborty etal.(2021) compared
pre-monsoon rainfall from 1980 to 2017 between the haor Basin (Sylhet Station) and Meghna Basin (Mymens-
ingh Station) and found that in April the Sylhet station received more rainfall, up to 800mm in some years,
compared to Mymensingh (Figure4). Predictions concerning future precipitation trends in this region suggest
that the frequencies of rainfall and severe floods will increase significantly (Masood & Takeuchi,2016; Nowreen
etal.,2015). In addition, monsoon peaks in the haor region are likely to occur 1–1.5months earlier by the end of
the 21st century, leading to an increased likelihood of earlier flooding (Masood & Takeuchi,2016).
2.2.2. Mining Activities and Sediment Yield in the Haor and Adjacent Indian Hill Tracts
Most haors in Sunamganj (Figures 1 and 2) are located on the border of the Khashi Hills in Meghalaya,
India, a region that is rich in mineral resources such as coal, limestone (Table1) and sillimanite. Meghalaya
Figure 4. Rainfall comparison between the haor basin (Sylhet station; see Figure1) and the Meghna basin (Mymensingh
station). Redrawn from Chakraborty etal.(2021).
Year
Limestone production (MT) Coal production (MT)
Jaintia hills Khasi hills Jaintia hills Khasi hills
2008–2009 1,485,909.39 2,320,327.5 – –
2009–2010 1,497,360.48 2,343,106.1 – –
2010–2011 2,041,707.95 546,543.1 4,743,141 290,534
2011–2012 2,956,217.172 1,814,655 4,621,628 475,888
2012–2013 2,308,611.639 2,194,859.8 2,870,257 393,197
2013–2014 1,937,280.92 2,401,117.1 2,780,648 432,474
2014–2015 2,063,138.244 2,262,384.08 1,600,797 528,018
Total Production 14,290,225.8 23,882,992.68 16,616,471 2,120,111
Note. Source: Government of Meghalaya: Department of Mining and Geology(2022).
Table 1
Production of Limestone and Coal in Indian Meghalaya Hills, 2008–2015

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has 460 million tons of coal reserves, of which more than 50,000 tons of coal are mined annually (Dikshit &
Dikshit,2014). Most of these coal mining areas are located in the upstream regions of the haor district, very close
to the India-Bangladesh border (Majaw,2014; Sholomar etal.,2015). For example, the Langrin coal deposit
(Figure1), with reserves of ⁓100 million tons, is located west of the Jadukata River, very close to the present
study area in Lubar and Pochashul Haors (LPH; Dikshit & Dikshit,2014, Figure 1). Coal production in the
Jaintia and Khasi hill regions of Meghalaya (Figure1 and Table1) between 2008 and 2015 totaled c. 19 MT
(Government of Meghalaya: Department of Mining and Geology,2022). Most coal mining is conducted using
a primitive method called “rat-hole mining”, which involves first cutting down trees or removing vegetation
and drilling narrow holes into the hills, so that laborers working in these holes can extract coal (Majaw,2016;
McDuie-Ra & Kikon,2016). Until they reach the coal layer, miners continue the excavation process with small
tools (Singh,2019). Initially, the mined coal is dumped nearby, but later is transported to near the highways for
trading and transportation.
Large-scale limestone mining has also taken place around the haor region over the past decade, with both private
individuals and cement companies involved in this mining, depending on their capacity. In most cases, the lime-
stone is quarried in open-pit mines, where miners remove vegetation from the hills, then drill and blast the rock,
after which the limestone is excavated and broken into smaller pieces that are transported to the cement plant
(Lamare & Singh, 2016). Limestone production in the Jaintia and Khasi hill regions of Meghalaya between
2008 and 2015 totaled c. 38MT (Government of Meghalaya: Department of Mining and Geology,2022). These
mining processes pose serious threats to the environment and its ecology, such as soil erosion, landslides, and
soil, air, and water pollution, both in the mining areas in India and downstream in the haor region of Bangladesh
(Singh,2019).
The massive extraction of sand and gravel from riverbeds and banks is also ongoing in the region, particularly in
rivers along the Bangladesh-India border (District Level Task Force,2019; Rahman,2014). Most sand mining
occurs in the winter and spring, from November to early April, largely through artisanal aggregate mining by
hand and using small boats. The increasing demand for river sediments, for construction materials and land
reclamation, has led to the uncontrolled and extensive extraction of stone, sand and gravel from major rivers in
Bangladesh (Best,2019; Padmalal etal.,2008; VICE News,2021). As a result, bank erosion and alteration of
the river course have occurred in some areas (DBHWD,2017). Depletion of sand in the riverbeds and along the
riverbanks may produce a deepening of the river, leading to the destruction of aquatic and riparian habitats, and
thereby affecting various species of flora and fauna (Sarma & Barik,2011; Talukdar etal.,2015).
2.2.3. Deforestation From Increased Agricultural Practices
The removal of vegetation cover may lead to an increase in runoff from upstream parts of the catchments, which
subsequently promotes siltation and increases the risk of flooding downstream (Dixon etal.,2003). Past work
has found that the loss of forests can increase or exacerbate the frequency and severity of flood-related disasters
in developing countries, including Bangladesh (Bradshaw etal.,2007). Together with mining, agriculture is one
of the leading causes of natural habitat loss. For example, slash and burn agriculture is a common agricultural
practice in several upland regions, including Meghalaya, where vegetation in a forest area is cut and burnt to grow
food. After harvesting, the land remains fallow and can recover its natural vegetation cover (Riahtam etal.,2018),
with this recovery period usually needing 15 years or more. However, due to socio-economic conditions, the
land often gets only one or 2years to recover, and thus the burnt land cannot remain under vegetative cover
and degrades relatively quickly, accelerating both land degradation and soil erosion. At present, >7,000km
2 of
land in Meghalaya has been cultivated using this method, and the percentage use of this method is increasing
(Yadav etal.,2012). Similarly, various studies in Bangladesh and India have shown that exploitation of swamps
and rainforests, together with various unplanned and unsustainable methods of cultivating crops on hillsides,
are major causes of soil erosion and siltation of wetlands (Hassan etal.,2005; Lamare & Singh,2016; Sarma
& Barik,2011). For example, in Hail Haor, Bangladesh, Uddin etal.(2013) found that the cultivation of vari-
ous citrus fruits and pineapples accelerated soil erosion because farmers traditionally grew these fruits in rows
aligned with the slope of the land, which promoted erosion. Similarly, Das(2015) and Ranjan(2019) point out
that agricultural lands in India are one of the most significant sources of soil erosion and subsequent sedimenta-
tion in both wetlands and on river islands.

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2.3. Stress Severity and Livelihood Vulnerability Due To Sedimentation
Various landscape disturbances, and the resulting increase in soil erosion and sedimentation, may pose the great-
est threats to the ecology of water resources (Best,2019; Best & Darby,2020). Increasing sedimentation within
wetlands has a variety of consequences:
1. Reduction in the wetland area and volume of water bodies due to sedimentation is one of the most significant
negative consequences of sedimentation (Deb & Ferreira,2015; Monwar etal.,2014; Rahman etal.,2018;
Sarker & Rashid,2013). For example, in Hakaluki Haor, a major wetland in northeast Bangladesh, the loss
of waterbody area between 1980 and 2012 increased from 10% to more than 75% (Khan,2012), decreasing
the percentage of functional wetlands—of the 63 small bergs (water lakes), only 36 provided the expected
amount of fish (Aziz etal., 2021). Likewise, the bed of Hail Haor has aggraded by an average of 5cm per
year, due to 59 active watercourses from the adjacent hills delivering over 100,000 tons of sediment to the
haor (MACH,2004).
2. Increased flooding of houses and settlements is another significant impact of sedimentation, leading to
destruction and loss of property and increasing poverty in rural communities (Fang etal.,2020; Li etal.,2007;
Lwenya & Yongo,2010; Monwar etal.,2014; OXFAM,2010).
3. Reduced water storage capacity of channels increases flood severity that can inundate and overtop the levees
(DBHWD,2017). All wetlands in the haor area are connected to various watercourses that transport large
quantities of sediment that are partly deposited on the riverbed (IFAD,2010). Early flash floods in 2017
in northeast Bangladesh have been argued to have been the most destructive in the last 10–12years due to
wetland siltation and excessive rainfall (Dey etal.,2021; Kamal etal.,2018; Rahman etal.,2018).
4. Reduced livelihoods for wetland communities due to loss of fishing and agricultural opportunities
(DBHWD,2017). As a result of sedimentation, all major water bodies in the haor area are seasonal, thereby
decreasing the diversity and availability of various aquatic resources (e.g., fish, various flora, and fauna). Loss
of cropland area is also a negative impact of siltation (Bhuiyan etal.,2017) if excess sedimentation impedes
plant growth. The loss of topsoil from cultivated land has also led to a decline in food production (Kafle
etal.,2017; Lwenya & Yongo,2010). For example, a study conducted in the low-lying haor region showed
that sedimentation had a negative impact on the cultivation of boro rice, the main cereal crop, and on the soil
moisture and water holding capacity in the haor region (Chakraborty etal.,2021). Siltation has been reported
as the primary cause of decreased cultivated land area and crop production in the neighboring countries of
India and Nepal (Das,2012; Kafle etal.,2017).
5. The loss of water resources has sometimes resulted in the population having to drink contaminated water,
thereby increasing various waterborne diseases (Buragohain & Bhuyan,2014). This increased demand for
water resources has also led to conflicts (Lwenya & Yongo,2010).
3. Methodology
3.1. Research Approach
The approach of the present study is descriptive-exploratory and combines quantitative and qualitative methods
(Bergman,2011) to determine how people living in the haor wetlands face the impacts of sedimentation and
consequent environmental change in terms of their living conditions.
3.2. Study Setting
Bangladesh is a country where people living in wetland and coastal areas are most vulnerable to climate change
and climate-related disasters because of their livelihoods. In the study herein, the Sunamganj District in Sylhet
division (Figure1), a center of haor and beel areas in Bangladesh, was selected as an area most vulnerable to
disasters and widespread flash floods (Choudhury & Haque,2016; DBHWD,2017; Rahman etal.,2018). Most
of the significant wetlands such as Tanguar, Matian, Shoneer, Halir, Lubar and Pochashul Haor (Figure1) are
located in Tahirpur, an upazila (sub-district) of Sunamganj (Sholomar etal.,2015). This sub-district is the most
flood and sedimentation affected area in Sunamganj District, including Lubar and Pochashul Haor, which have
been filled and elevated after substantial sedimentation in the last two decades (DBHWD,2016). In addition, the
soils in the Sunamganj region are generally very poorly drained. Cherrapunji (India; Figure1), the area with the
highest recorded rainfall in the world, is located only 50 km from LPH. Irregularities in seasonal rainfall patterns

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have been observed in Cherrapunji, and rainfall patterns have changed radically over the last 60 years. For exam-
ple, the consecutive dry, summer and very light rainfall days from 1979 to 2020 in Cherrapunji have increased
by 0.54, 1.58, and 0.014days/year respectively (Kalita etal.,2021). Again, although the difference in rainfall
between April and May is small, the proportion of rainfall occurring in April has increased in recent decades,
which is also somewhat unusual in this region (IFAD,2010).
In addition, some catchments in the haor region receive up to 12,000mm of rainfall per year; as a result, upstream
areas can experience sudden heavy rains, which can cause landslides and flooding in downstream areas of the
LPH (APPG, 2013). There are 29 villages in the vicinity of LPH, with some such as Chandpur, Noyasora,
Pahartole, Koregora, Rojoniline, Raja-e, Borosora, Amtole, Patargaon, Telapara and Koro-e-gora being most
influenced by sedimentation that has affected the livelihoods of the local people and poses them new challenges
in terms of diversifying their livelihoods.
3.3. Population and Sampling
The present study used a multi-stage sampling technique to select districts, upazila, villages and households.
First, Sunamganj District was selected for study as an area vulnerable to climate-induced flooding, and then
Tahirpur Upazila was selected as the most disaster-prone area in the district. Due to its high potential vulnerabil-
ity, different studies (e.g., Islam etal.,2018; Kamal etal.,2018; Rahman etal.,2018) have examined the impacts
of climate change on the living and coping strategies of the people living in this landscape. From local experts
(e.g., Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), government and NGOs workers and locally elected leaders), it was known
which villages frequently face climate change-related challenges and that are highly vulnerable to sedimentation.
Based on three key criteria, (a) villages near to haor or water streams, (b) areas having experienced siltation,
landslides or sedimentation, and (c) people whose livelihoods depend on the haor or water bodies, six villages
in two unions were selected (see Figure5a): Rojoniline, Chandpur and Shantipur from Uttar Baradal union, and
Patargaon, Yunuspur and Jaspratap from Uttar Badaghat union. From these villages, we collected relevant infor-
mation from 180 households from a total of 2,151 households, as detailed in Table2.
3.4. Data Collection and Analysis Techniques
We systematically visited each ith household, where i is a round number derived from the ratio of the sample
size of each village to the total number of households in the village. Visits were made to these sample house-
holds and interviews were conducted with the household head, relying on locals who knew the exact location of
all households and were known to villagers so as to introduce us. In the absence of the head of the household,
we interviewed the oldest adult. In case of the temporary absence of eligible household members, interviewers
proceeded to the next eligible household. However, subsequent return visits were paid to the selected households
until an interview was possible. Winter (December to February) was chosen for the final fieldwork because
remote villages were usually surrounded by water during the monsoon season (see Figure 2) and local trans-
portation was easily accessible during the dry season. We used a semi-structured questionnaire that included
socio-demographic data, information on sedimentation, and living conditions. The present study focused on four
key vulnerabilities related to sedimentation, including abandoned land, filled water bodies, reduced soil fertility,
extreme rainfall, and landslides, by asking respondents several questions, such as “Has the land/water body been
filled/refilled with sand, if so, how?”; “is the land productivity due to sand decreasing, if so, how?”; and “is the
sand encroaching due to extreme rainfall and landslides?” To understand the impact of sedimentation, we asked
respondents to what extent they believed sedimentation affected the frequency and magnitude of flash floods,
sewer congestion, water resources, crop irrigation, settlement changes, the environmental movement, human
health, livestock, and daily household activities, including obtaining water and firewood.
The study also conducted two key informant interviews (KIIs) with the Upazila Nirbahee (Chief Executive)
Officer and the Upazila Agricultural Officer, as well as 54 in-depth interviews (IDI) with household heads. In
addition, four transect walks (TW), a method that uses controlled “walks” in the community to explore local
landscape resources, livelihoods and social situations through observing, asking, listening, looking and producing
a transect map (Mustanir etal.,2017) were performed following other studies (e.g., Ahsan,2017; Alam,2016;
Kamal etal.,2018). Respondents for IDI were selected from a subset of household heads who had given their
permission to be interviewed later during the household survey and were available during the fieldwork. Before

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Figure 5. Satellite images of the haor landscape studied herein as revealed from: (a) Corona image, 3 March 1965; (b, c) Landsat images from 24 April 1990 and
8 May 2002 (resolution 30m), (d) Planet Cubesat image collected on 25 April 2021, and maps of: (e) the occurrence of water, and (f) intensity of change in water
occurrence, between 1984 and 2020, as obtained from the Global Surface Water Explorer database (Pekel etal.,2016; https://global-surface-water.appspot.com/
download). See Figure S2 in Supporting InformationS1 for image swipe comparison of 1965 and 2021 images.
Selected unions
Selected
villages
Total households
in the selected
villages a
Number of
surveyed
households
Number of household
heads selected for
in-depth interviews
Quotations of in-depth
interviews included in
the present paper
Uttar Baradal Rojoniline 362 30 13 7
Shantipur 1,125 94 16 10
Chandpur 259 22 8 3
Uttar Badaghat Jaspratap 30 3 2 1
Yunuspur 221 18 7 3
Patargaon 154 13 8 3
Total 2,151 180 54 27
aSource: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics(2013).
Table 2
Sample Size Selection

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each interview, the objectives and dissemination of the study's findings were
described, as well as guaranteeing the confidentiality of all responses, and
that their participation in the survey was entirely voluntary, with written
consent being obtained before each interview began.
In order to examine landscape change in the haor region studied herein, we
also utilized a series of images covering a period of 56 years (Figure 5):
declassified military satellite Corona images from 3 March 1965 (resolution
c. 2.75m), Landsat images from 24 April 1990 and 8 May 2001 (resolution
30 m) and Planet Cubesat images (resolution 3 m) collected on 25 April
2021. The Corona images were georectified within GlobalMapper using the
Planet CubeSat images from 2021. In addition, the Global Surface Water data
set (Pekel etal.,2016) was used to illustrate the occurrence of water, and the
intensity of change in water occurrence, between 1984 and 2020.
The current study presents results using descriptive statistics and a thematic
analysis based on qualitative information. The thematic analysis identifies,
analyses and reports the patterns or themes that emerged in the texts (Braun
& Clarke,2006). We transcribed several qualitative Bangla interviews into
English and extracted relevant information for thematic analysis, sometimes
with a paraphrased translation (Haq & Ahmed,2017). The thematic analyses
of the qualitative data and the transcriptions were performed manually (Kabir
etal.,2016).
4. Results
4.1. Socio-Demographic Characteristics
The results showed that almost half of the respondents were women (51.1%;
Table3), 43.5% were illiterate and few had a university degree (1.5%). Many
respondents had one to 5years of schooling (primary schooling in Bangla-
desh) and could read and write. The most common housing materials used
were tin roofs and tin walls (49.9%), and approximately one-third (29.4%)
of the houses had tin roofs and bamboo walls. One-quarter of households
drew water from traditional wells and local water channels (canals, rivers, ponds), with 67.5% of households
using traditional hanging latrines and 19.4% using sanitary latrines or balanced pit latrines. About one in 10
respondents reported that they did not have a latrine and used open sites. The socio-demographic and household
characteristics imply that households are likely to be susceptible to flooding and will witness vulnerabilities in
housing, water and health.
4.2. Nature of Sedimentation
In the present study, respondents were asked to provide information on the type of particles/substances that come
with flash floods and are later deposited in the haor area, and give their opinion regarding the nature and duration
of sedimentation based on their experience during the last 10 years.
4.2.1. Types of Sedimentation, Flow and Timing of Sediment Deposition
Every year, haors are confronted with unexpected sudden floods from the surrounding hills of India, which
transport abundant gravel, sand and other materials at high water flows. A significant proportion of respondents
(88.2%) indicated that sand is the primary deposit in the study area, with the second most common particle being
coal. Slightly less than half (47%) of the respondents indicated that a sudden flood carried a significant amount
of coal grains from Meghalaya. According to 45% of respondents, during prolonged heavy rainfall, coarser sedi-
ment, including boulders, limestone, gravel, pebbles, sandstone, and mudstone start to erode and move along the
river bed. However, about one third (32%) of respondents stated that red mud and alluvia were also dumped in the
Lubar and Pochashul Haor (LPH). Flash floods also carried debris, including firewood (20.3%), rotten twigs and
tendrils (22.9%) during the monsoon period.
Socio-demographic characteristics Percentage (N=180)
Gender
Male 48.9
Female 51.1
Educational attainment
Illiterate 43.5
Signature 20.2
Primary 24.6
Secondary 10.2
Graduate or above 1.5
Housing condition
Tin shed roofs and bamboo wall 29.4
Tin shed roofs and tin wall 49.9
Tin shed roofs and Pucca floor 12.7
Straw roofs and bamboo wall 8.0
Sources of drinking water
Tube well 57.1
Well 17.7
River/channel/pond 25.2
Sanitation facilities
Sanitary/offset pit latrine 19.4
Hanging latrine 67.5
Open defecation 13.1
Table 3
Socio-Demographic and Household Characteristics

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Flow and sediment aggradation depend on rain and the magnitude of floods.
More than two-thirds of respondents (80.6%) believed that sedimentation
has increased over the past 10 years and many areas have become silted up;
consequently, water bodies have died. Some respondents (14.2%) reported
that these flows and sedimentation processes have been stable, while a small
percentage (5.2%) indicated that sedimentation was decreasing (see Table4).
A farmer stated:
I have lost and abandoned about 15 hectares of my 20 hectares of land,
and agriculture is no longer possible in the near future due to the sand
and gravel. My family has no land and assets except this land, and will
eventually starve to death (Male, 40 years, Farmer, Rojoniline, IDI).
Although the duration of sedimentation varies based on location, the major-
ity of respondents from the six villages perceived that sedimentation formed
during the Bengali calendar month Ashar to Bhadro (June to August), while
6% and 5% of respondents respectively reported sedimentation to occur from
mid-April to mid-May (Boishak) and mid-May to mid-June (Joisto).
4.2.2. Patterns of Landscape Change Due To Sedimentation
Images of the study area over 56 years (Figure 5; see also swipe image
comparison in Figure S2 in Supporting InformationS1) show the nature of
landscape change over this period. The villages studied herein lie adjacent
to the Shillong Plateau and are located on alluvial fans that feed into the
low-lying haor region. Villages 1–3 and 6 are located on small fans at the
break in slope from the plateau, whilst villages 4 and 5 are positioned on
the larger Jadukata Fan (Alam & Islam,2017), with Village 4 (Patargaon)
being near a distributary of the Jadukata Fan that has extended over these
56 years (compare Figures 5a–5d and see Figure S2 in Supporting Infor-
mationS1). Village 5 (Yunuspur) is located in a relatively stable region of
the Jadukata Fan and has undergone little topographic or water occurrence
change during this period (see region around label “c”, Figure5d).
Over these 56years, the region shows the growth of the distributary channel lobes of the Jadukata Fan into the
water bodies of the haor, with the growth of terminal distributary lobes being apparent in several areas (labeled
“s”, Figure5d), and resulting in decreases in water change intensity both at several locations on the Jadukata
Fan as well as on the smaller fans (Figure5f). This has led to the conversion of previously flooded haor lowland
in 1965 into areas of permanent sediment (labeled “s”, Figure5d) by 2021. Villages 3 and 4 (Shantipur and
Patargaon) show sedimentation producing a lower occurrence of water (Figure5e), and a decrease in intensity of
water occurrence (Figure5f). This is due to the progradation of a smaller fan on which Shantipur is situated and
the growth of a distributary channel of the Jadukata Fan on which Patargaon is located, and that has resulted in
infilling of water bodies in these areas (compare Figures5a and5d). Conversion of haor wetlands into permanent
land is thus an ongoing process inherent to fan progradation and relies on the flux of sediment into the region,
which is dictated by climatic control on water supply, the erodibility of sediment from the source hinterland and
anthropogenic alterations (such as the construction of channel levees, dredging or water diversions) that may
influence local sediment flux into the wetlands. Other locations on the fan, such as Village 5 (Yunuspur) that is
between distributary channels, have undergone less sedimentation and thus seen less change in water intensity.
The distributary channel immediately south-east of Yunuspur (labeled “a”, Figure5d) has become abandoned,
with its previous channel now agricultural land. These images also show the development of coal mining sites
in the hills between Villages 3 and 6 (indicated as white dots on Figure5) and the imprint of deforestation in the
Shillong Plateau (labeled “d”, Figure5d).
Perceptions of sedimentation Percentage
Observed grains a
Sand 88.2
Coal grains 47.0
Red clay mud 32.9
Alluvial soils 31.2
Boulder, limestone and others 45.3
Spoiled twigs and tendrils 22.9
Firewood 20.9
Sedimentation intensity in the last 10years
Increased 80.6
Unchanged 14.2
Decreased 5.2
Sedimentation seasons
April–May (Boishak) 6.7
May–June (Joisto) 6.3
June–July (Ashar) 29.4
July–August (Srabon) 34.1
August–September (Badro) 22.6
September–October (Ashwin) 1.0
aEach respondent was allowed to select multiple grains they had observed.
The responses were limited to “Yes” or “No”, and the information presented
herein thus indicates if respondents had observed one or more of grain type.
Table 4
Perceptions of the Type, Intensity and Period of Sedimentation in Lubar and
Pochashul Haor

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4.3. Sedimentation and Vulnerability
4.3.1. Land Degradation, Abandoned Water Bodies and Infrastructure
Sand is the most common sediment reported in the study area, and participants report that this sand is not helpful
for agriculture that requires a silty soil. The sand is reported to increase water pollution, degrade farming land,
and cause abandonment of physical infrastructure. A government representative stated:
Small pieces of mud rock are a death trap for communities. Sand, coal, lime, stone, and other sedimentary
rocks flow through channels into surrounding landscapes, severely affecting our biodiversity and agricul-
tural land (Male, 37 years, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Tahirpur, KII).
Increased precipitation in the hillslope catchments generates an increased sediment load, including coal grains,
from exposed source areas, resulting in increased acidification in the LPH and adjacent rivers. Water bodies such
as ponds, small channels and rivers have been inundated with floodwater and, especially since 2008, have contin-
ued silting up with sand, gravel, coal, limestone and other debris, with the riverbed level continuing to increase.
A farmer in Rojoniline reported:
During the rainy season, my pond fills up with floodwater, and a few local fish come on their own.
However, during the last monsoon, there was a flash flood and the pond filled with sand and gravel within
minutes (Male, 46, farmer, Rojoniline, IDI).
Other basins, such as Rojonee chora (near Rojoniline) and Lakama chora (near Patargaon), are becoming more
elevated and losing their drainage capacity, and consequently threatening to disappear. Reduced drainage capacity
again results in higher water levels during rains or flash f loods and accelerates the range and magnitude of the
effects of flash floods. Another farmer in Shantipur village stated that:
There was a 12-meter high statue of Pachashul. We used to visit this statue by boat and fishing. In 1988, the
entire statue was filled with a huge amount of sand from the Khasi hills (Male, 50, farmer, Shantipur, IDI).
4.3.2. Reduced Land Productivity Resulting From Acidic Sand and Extremely Dense Clay
Sedimentation can help increase the fertility of farming land, but may also yield sand and other harmful substances
that threaten agriculture and reduce agricultural production. Land fertility is reported to have decreased due to
sand deposition as well as other particles, such as coal. Due to the increased sulfur in these sediments, and espe-
cially from coal that may contain iron sulfides that weathers to yield acidic waters, the soil becomes acidic and
leads to lower crop yields. The higher sand content may also reduce the water and nutrient retention capacity of
the soils and thus lower their productivity. A farmer in Jaspratap village reported:
We had never used white fertilizer (urea) or irrigation for rice cultivation during our childhood. We
would go to the haor and sow rice seeds directly in the field. We would get approximately 11 maunds (1
maund=37.32 kg) of paddy rice per bigha (1 bigha is equivalent to 0.62 acres). Now I have to use fertilizer
and irrigated water but do not receive more than 3 maunds with the same land size (Male, 32 years old,
farmer, Jaspratap, IDI).
Additionally, respondents report that one type of red clay with sand is also deposited on their cultivated land,
which is very dense and its thickness impedes plant growth. Moreover, this clay becomes extremely hard after
drying, so the soil cannot be cultivated due to its excessive hardness. Another farmer in Shantipur village believed
that:
Since the flash flood of 2010, some types of dense clay-like alluvia have been dumped on my land. It has
become challenging, and I cannot grow anything here (Male, 45, farmer, Shantipur, IDI).
4.3.3. Deforestation, Extreme Rainfall and Landslides
Agricultural land becomes covered with sand due to erosion associated with extreme rainfall and landslides in
the area bordering the study area, particularly between Chandpur (Village 2) and Rojoniline (Village 1) and
Meghalaya, India. Regarding extreme rainfall, a 46-year old male in Shantipur village who relies upon fishing for
his subsistence mentioned that:

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No rain, no rain, but suddenly you will see a heavy rain start from the hillside and once it started, continues
for three to four days and inundated everything and after that sand is everywhere (Male, 46 years, fisher,
Shantipur, IDI).
Again, the respondent attests to the quantity of sand supplied to the haor increasing over the past decade and
attributed this to deforestation associated with coal mining and slash-and-burn cultivation in the neighboring
Meghalaya hills. An official for the local NGO Barshik, who works on climate change adaptation, shared that:
See the hills; a few months earlier, Khashi people cleaned everything for Jhum (slash and burn) cultivation.
They extracted coal and lime through a small hole on the other side. We are going to suffer a lot during this
monsoon (Male, 56 years, NGO official, Chandpur, KII).
It is reported miners have cut down forests and opened wells in the upstream hill tracts, thus making the topsoil
unstable and enabling it to be transported downstream during monsoon floods. The unplanned open pit mining
of coal and limestone in Meghalaya is also contended to cause landslides, with a government representative of
Tahirpur Upazila stating that:
So far, 90,000 acres of farmland in 19 villages in the haor regions of Tahirpur, Takerghat and Bishwamb-
hapur upazilas have been ruined due to sediment-related landslides in the past three decades and have also
increased recently following extreme rainfalls (Male, 37 years, Upazila Nirbahee officer, Tahirpur, KII).
Concerning landslides, a 35-year-old female in Rojoniline village states:
About eight years ago, a sudden landslide in the mountains of Kashi (Meghalaya, India) destroyed our
house with a tremendous amount of sand. Heavy rains triggered it for about six days. It covered my vege-
table garden and Boro rice that was cultivated on land (Female, 35 years, housewife, Rojoniline, IDI).
4.4. Impacts and Severity of Stress From Sedimentation: Local Experiences
4.4.1. Increased Sedimentation Exacerbates the Effects of Flash Floods
Increased sedimentation in the haor basin, in both rivers and other lowland areas, results in a decreasing capacity
for water conveyance. Excess sedimentation causes channels to become unstable due to increasing bank erosion,
and channel aggradation causes flood capacity to decrease. Increased bank erosion may also cause bank failure
through a combination of hydraulic and gravitational factors, which, especially during intense rainfall events or
flash floods, may cause hundreds of square kilometers of agricultural land to be rapidly flooded. Consequently,
increased flash floods threaten to destroy major crop-based livelihood strategies in LPH. Increasing flash floods
cause appreciable suffering for local inhabitants, as expressed by an elementary school teacher in Shantipur
village:
In recent years, the nature of floods has changed drastically. Now the water descending from Meghalaya
can flow at any time and can flood any haor. Thus, Lubar and Pochashul Haor and adjacent areas are inun-
dated in no time (Male, 43 years, elementary school teacher, Shantipur, IDI).
According to local respondents, the seasonal flood (locally called “borsha”) is not regarded as a greater risk for
the dwellers, as they have already developed some effective indigenous adaptation strategies to cope with this
flood. However, when local pre-monsoon convective rains occur earlier than they expected, farmers do not have
an opportunity to harvest the paddy-field rice. As runoff from the mountainous terrain of Meghalaya arrives
within 24 hours of the rainfall event, water levels in the haor basin can rise extremely rapidly and leave little, or
no time, for preparations. The rivers soon swell, and the farmers can lose a significant portion of their Boro paddy.
One farmer shared that:
There is no easy way to drain the floodwater from the Pochashul Beel when sedimentation is a large part
of it. Even after the rain of a couple of hours, it turns into a sea. However, the flood water destroys our
standing crops and makes our life miserable for years (Male, 40 years, farmer, Shantipur, IDI).

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4.4.2. Drainage Congestion and Prolonged Waterlogging During the Cultivation Seasons
Drainage plays a critical role in rice cultivation in the lowland haor area, especially in early winter, when drain-
age is needed to prepare the seedbed for the planting of the Boro variety. Although the haor receives a massive
amount of water during the monsoon, the water drains back towards the river in winter, so that the entire haor
turns into a plainland that can be prepared for rice cultivation. However, drainage congestion is increasing due to
riverbed aggradation, and the channel outlets can become heavily silted following extreme rainfall. Consequently,
water outflow from the river is impeded after the monsoon, and the outflow rate is very slow, which results in
prolonged waterlogging and delayed rice cultivation.
Subsequently, farmers cannot plant in the low-lying, still flooded haor, because the area of submerged land has
increased. An agriculture official stated:
Lubar and Pochashul Haor covers 2286 hectares of land. Boro is cultivated there every year. However, in
2016, Boro was only cultivated on 285 hectares of land due to persistent waterlogging during the cultiva-
tion period (Male, 39 years, Upazila Agricultural Officer, Tahirpur, KII).
Additionally, the risk of crop loss increases when farmers delay cultivating their land due to the occurrence of
hazards such as hailstorms or flash floods.
Last year, I lost my crop due to untimely and heavy rains, so this year I expected to prepare Boro paddies
soon, but residual waterlogging thwarted my plans. How can people survive without growing paddy rice?
The Almighty knows! (Male, 35 years, farmer, Shantipur, IDI)
So far I have managed to cultivate fifty percent of the land. When I will prepare the seed bed and when I
will cultivate the rest of the arable land is uncertain because of the hailstorm and early flooding (Male, 40
years, farmer, Shantipur, IDI).
4.4.3. Shortage of Irrigation Water, Crop Diseases and Transportation Problems
Although there may be an abundance of water in early winter, water scarcity during the late winter has led to an
irrigation crisis. This has been generated by the decreasing availability of surface water caused by the sedimen-
tation of surrounding rivers, canals and other smaller water bodies, which decreases their water storage capacity.
In the past, many water bodies had a volume sufficient for irrigation during the dry season, but in recent years
a shortage of irrigation water has been observed from early February to late March. When this water shortage
occurs, farmers have to pay extra money for irrigation. A female interviewee living on non-agricultural day labor
in Shantipur village felt that:
It is difficult to sow land when there is no water. We have to plough the gravelly soil, which costs more
engine power and oil. We do not have the capacity to bear the additional unforeseen costs (Female, 31
years, day labourer, Shantipur, IDI).
In addition, the decreasing water storage capacity of water bodies makes it challenging for farmers to establish
surface irrigation when there is no significant water table below the surface. Where such irrigation is absent, the
standing crop faces disease, malnutrition, and insect infestation. According to villagers, rat infestations, for exam-
ple, reached an epidemic stage due to the lack of water in the cultivating land, and they were afraid to bring their
crops home. Water scarcity, the formation of sand mats over the land surface, and rat invasion lead to significant
economic losses for dwellers. A farmer in Shantipur village expressed that:
Rat infestation is increasing, and they cut the seedlings; as a result, more fertilizers and pesticides need
to be applied. The rats ruined a large part of the replenished rice field. Again, hundreds of hectares of
farmland are covered with sand. Due to flash floods, siltation and rat invasion, we have lost everything
and become vulnerable to seasonal hunger and increased poverty (Male, 32 years, farmer, Shantipur, IDI).
In addition, inhabitants mention that sedimentation has disrupted the transportation of paddy rice from remote
haor areas. Most farmers growing boro rice in the haor typically have their rice fields 8 to 16 km from their
homes, and they have no adequate means of transportation other than boats to transport the rice. In the past,
small channels in the middle of the haor allowed farmers to transport their rice in loaded boats. However, due to
sedimentation, there are now fewer visible channels in the haor during rice harvesting. As a result, farmers are

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mainly forced to sell their rice at a nominal price to rice traders in the rice fields, resulting in economic losses. A
farmer in Patargaon village stated that:
We grow rice in the remote area of haor, but we are not able to bring the rice to our granary after harvesting
in Baishakh (mid-April) because there is no transportation. We are forced to sell the rice cheaply in the
rice field. This problem has been going on for years, but nothing is being done (Male, 50 years, farmer,
Patargaon, IDI).
4.4.4. Loss of Aquatic Resources and Biodiversity
In the past, various aquatic resources, including fish, flora, and fauna, were abundant. However, during the past
three to four decades, these aquatic resources have declined due to rapid sedimentation in the spawning grounds
and complete drying of some wetlands. In addition, with a gradual increase in bed level, deep wetlands have
sometimes been converted to rice fields. Farmers have also resorted to using too much chemical fertilizer because
of lower productivity on the silts and sands of this converted land. The indiscriminate use of fertilizers in rice
paddies also yields adverse effects on fish larvae during the early monsoon period, and is also causing a decline in
fish productivity and diversity. One fisherman said:
There are no big fish in our haor anymore, only small fish. During my childhood, I saw huge snails and
mussels. Now we cannot even find snails to feed the ducks anymore (Male, 29 years, fisherman, Shantipur,
IDI).
Local respondents report that many active and abandoned mining sites are present in the adjacent upstream
hilly areas. Subsequently, eroding soil, silt, fine sand, and coal grains are transported in floods causing water in
the wetlands to become very turbid and polluted. This causes deterioration to fish breeding and damages other
aquatic flora and fauna, including pearl mussels, snails, makna (Euryale Ferox), singara (Trapa Bispinosa), lotus,
lily, hogla (Typha Elephantine) and other aquatic plants, grasses, shrubs and weeds. A fisher in Yunuspur village
wondered that:
What an outrage! The water has become muddy because of the fine sand. However, before, the water was
so clear. From three meters above, it was possible to see the bottom of the beel (Male, 36 years, fisherman,
Yunuspur, IDI).
Sedimentation has also had an indirect impact on biodiversity in LPH. Due to the rich vegetation and extensive
grassland, the haor had many natural pastures for a long time, and traditionally, in the winter season, haor area
residents could graze their livestock on the fallow land. However, this practice has been hindered due to sediment
covering the vegetation, according to the haor inhabitants. As a result, pastures have been gradually destroyed,
creating a shortage of foraging land and eventually leading to a sharp decline in livestock herds and their produc-
tivity. All species of livestock and ducks suffer significantly due to feeding shortages, with the outbreak of
waterborne diseases and inadequate grazing ground, in both rainy and winter seasons, leading to the decline in
livestock. A day laborer in Rojoniline shared:
However, the fallow land has been covered with sand for about two to three feet each year. Grass cannot
split more than 1.5 feet of sand in a monsoon. Again, because of the different chemicals like limestone
and sulfur in the sand, the vegetation cannot grow and no longer maintain a herd (Male, 37, day labor,
Rojoniline, IDI).
4.4.5. Impacts on Traditional Livelihoods
The haor landscape has two distinct alternative states during the rainy and dry seasons, but provides two essen-
tial livelihood opportunities for the inhabitants: fishing in the rainy season, and rice cultivation, especially the
boro rice variety, in the dry season. During the wet monsoon season (late May-early October), haor residents are
engaged in fishing. In the dry season (December to April), the haor becomes a vast shallow floodplain. During
this period, people engage in crop cultivation, including rice and vegetables. However, due to sedimentation, this
occupational structure has changed dramatically in the areas studied. For example, a day laborer in Rojoniline
village expressed that:
Most people have lost their farmland in recent years due to sand dumping. They have become day labour-
ers. Some also work in the coal depot as watchmen or labourers to load and unload coal imported from

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Meghalaya, India. Recently, there has been no coal-related work (Male, 27 years, day laborer, Rojoniline,
IDI).
Before increased sedimentation, in both wet and dry seasons, the main occupations were fishing and farming.
After sedimentation, however, wage labor is the most common principal occupation, both in the local sand and
stone quarries (Jadukata River) and outside (Jaflong and Bhulagonj in Sylhet district). Increasing siltation of
water bodies and arable land is changing the ecosystem and depriving thousands of people of their livelihoods,
forcing them to change their occupation from farming to working as non-agricultural wage laborers, fishers, or
street vendors. A male street vendor from Yunuspur village stated that:
Me, my father, grandfather and ancestors were living on fishing, and we used to catch fish from the haor.
However, now, most of the channels and the riverbed are covered with sedimentation and vegetation. As
a result, the fish cannot come from the Matian and Shoner Haor. We have already given up our traditional
occupation as fishers. However, we cannot do heavy work such as earthwork, constructions, etc. (Male,
25, street vendor, Yunuspur, IDI).
4.4.6. Increased Environmental Dislocation
Excessive sedimentation is a major cause of environmental pollution in the LPH area, especially in Shantipur
(village 3), Rojoniline (village 1) and Chandpur (village 2). As a result, villagers had to leave their homes,
especially in the rainy season, and became environmental refugees. Every night during the rainy season, some
residents report they are scared by the prospect of sediment in the river arriving with flash floods. Some people
stayed with their relatives or took shelter during the night when it rained heavily. In addition, sedimentation some-
times happened so quickly that people lost everything within minutes, including furniture, utensils and clothes.
The situation for indigenous families living on the hilly border of Meghalaya is dire, and many have been forced
to move to the relatively higher parts of the area as their homes have been infilled with sand. A local housewife
said:
During the night we heard a big 'bang' and then sand and stones suddenly came in with the water. In my
house, the walls were filled with sand for more than half the height. One night, I lost everything. Now I
have no place to stay (Female, 24 years, housewife, Rojoniline, IDI).
Due to the loss of farmland and houses, they are forced to borrow money from moneylenders. Another local
farmer said:
All cultivated land has disappeared under the sand. Children's education, food, care and shelter are threat-
ened because we depend on this land. I have to borrow money with high interest from Mohajon (money
lender) and use it to buy fertilizer and basic food. Because of the constant borrowing and pressure from
the lender, I am thinking of leaving my ancestral home and going to the capital Dhaka to work (Male, 36
years old, farmer, Patargaon, IDI).
4.4.7. Increased Threat to Public Health
Coal mining generates hundreds of millions of tonnes of waste coal, rock and cleaning waste, streams containing
fine coal (a by-product of coal processing operations), coal gangue, coal sludge, fly-ash, waters from coal mine
drainage and coal bed methane (CBM) that contaminate the landscape in, and beyond, the mining areas. Exposure
to toxic chemicals is detrimental to human health, potentially causing severe diseases. Participants in the present
study reported some diseases, including skin ulcers, itching, black spots on the skin, gastrointestinal disease
and diarrhea, and hypertension. They emphasized that such skin diseases are more common among people who
collect coal from the river water. A female respondent from Chandpur village stated that:
There is an excessive level of iron in the tube well water. Rice and curry become black when I use the water
for cooking. It produces a lot of gas in our stomachs. I am used to the water in chora (a small water stream),
but now it is full of stones and sand. I have no other option but the tube well during the dry season (Female,
45 years, housewife, Chandpur, IDI).

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Drinking water scarcity is one of the most critical consequences of sedimentation. However, ponds, streams,
and tube wells were the most frequent sources of accessing drinking water in the past. A female respondent of
25years in Rojoniline expressed that:
Clean drinking water is a crisis for us in all seasons. In the dry season, we suffer from water scarcity and
in the wet season from flooding. We simply dug the ground and got water in our childhood, but now there
is no water because of sand (Female, 25 years, housewife, Rojoniline, IDI).
4.4.8. Violence and Social Tensions Over Limited Resources
Sedimentation can also trigger violence, conflict, and social problems, such as gambling, sexual harassment,
and armed conflicts at sand mining sites. Due to the encroachment of sedimentation into the haor area, some
residents reported loss and damage to their properties and livelihoods, which eventually forced them to migrate to
nearby districts for their livelihood. The migration of men has also led to a feeling of insecurity among women; in
particular, young girls are being sexually harassed, and some women reported that their co-workers harassed them
in their quarry. Regarding the feeling of insecurity, a 26-year-old housewife in Yunuspur felt that:
I was scared every time my husband migrated to provide seasonal labour for rice harvesting. I live alone
with myself, my two sons who are 2 and 4 years old, and a 14-year-old adolescent girl. So, we are expected
to do all our daily chores before the sun goes down. Also, communication is terrible during heavy rains,
and we are too far from the local market to access essentials (Female, 26 years, housewife, Yunuspur, IDI).
Similarly, parents of younger, unmarried, daughters are afraid of losing their family reputations and the marriage-
ability of their daughters due to increased sexual harassment, as reported by a father from Patargaon:
I can say that the sedimentation problems have impacted my household. We, including my 15-year-old
unmarried daughter, had to collect stones and separate them from the sand. She sometimes faced sexual
harassment by some other boys. This worried me. Due to the increased risk of sexual harassment, I am
always afraid of losing my family reputation, impacting my daughter’s marriageability (Male, 45 years,
day labourer, Patargaon, IDI).
Rapid urbanization is driving increasing demand for sand in Bangladesh, leading to uncontrolled and mostly
illegal extraction of gravel and sand from riverbeds (VICE News,2021). Some local people rely on extracting
sand and coal from waterbodies to secure their livelihoods, and illegal extraction of sand and coal by traders may
pose a threat to their livelihood. Moreover, such traders use dredgers and other machines to extract sand and coal,
potentially affecting areas of both farming and settlement. This creates conflicts and social tensions between
villagers and illegal extraction companies and traders. A day laborer in Chandpur village reported that:
For the past 20 years, these traders have been extracting and transporting sand and gravel from our rivers.
The authorities have not taken any steps to stop this illegal trade. Sometimes villagers try to protest and
sometimes fights break out between villagers and groups of traders (Male, 32 years, day labourer, Chan-
dpur, IDI).
5. Discussion
The haor landscape in northeastern Bangladesh is a large bowl-shaped depression and seasonal wetland formed
between the natural embankments of an alluvial fan–river network that causes a large influx of sediment from
upstream India during the monsoon season (Rahaman etal., 2021). These sediments are deposited throughout
the wetlands as a part of natural alluvial fan sedimentation, but increased sedimentation in recent decades is both
reducing the natural flow of water and increasing the severity of flooding. Both LPH in the Sunamganj District
are natural wetlands with significant economic and ecological value. The present exploratory descriptive study
reveals the nature, extent, and impact of sedimentation on the livelihoods of people through the lens of the expe-
riences of local inhabitants. The study describes how people in the haor landscape are being affected by the new
“silent” disaster of increased sedimentation, and the critical factors that trigger this increase. Typically, the haor
communities witness increased poverty, poor sanitation facilities, and inadequate educational facilities due to
their geographical vulnerability to flash floods, seasonal unavailability of communication infrastructure, and

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inadequate civic amenities, as also shown by other studies (Choudhury etal.,2019; Kamal etal.,2018; Parvez
etal.,2021; Rahman etal.,2018; Shahidullah etal.,2020).
Sedimentation is a natural phenomenon in the haor region of Bangladesh (Sholomar etal.,2015), where sand is
the principal component of wetland sediments (Bhuiyan etal.,2017). In the study area, in addition to sand, large
quantities of coal grains, limestone, silt, gravel and other debris are washed out with the rainfall, transported in
floodwaters and deposited in the wetlands. It has been found that most sediment has been deposited during the
monsoon season, although the intensity of flow and deposition depends on the intensity of rainfall and flooding
(Kafle etal.,2017), with sediment flux and intensity varying with distance from the sediment source. From the
IDI conducted herein, the nature of sedimentation in the floodplain is reported to have changed radically over
the past decade due to inputs of sand, coal, rock debris, and various chemicals, as also noted in other studies of
wetlands (Rahman etal., 2018; Sholomar et al., 2015). The present study also reveals how the landscape has
changed due to sedimentation between 1965 and 2021. Satellite imagery over these 56years reveals the growth
and extension of distributary channels from the Jadukata Fan into the haor water bodies, with the growth of
multiple terminal distributary fan lobes in several areas, leading to a decrease in the intensity of water exchange
at several locations on the Jadukata Fan, as well as on other smaller fans. This has resulted in some previously
flooded haor lowlands in 1965 being converted to areas of permanent sediment by 2021.
However, along with these natural processes of alluvial fan growth, different anthropogenic causes, including
precipitation change, mining activities, slash-and-burn agriculture in the adjacent Meghalaya hills, and poor
sediment control in Bangladesh and the Indian Hills, are accelerating sedimentation processes in the study areas.
For example, respondents report that during the monsoon, although rainfall has decreased, the intensity of precip-
itation has increased. These accounts are in line with the findings of Rahaman etal.(2021), Dey etal.(2021)
and Masood and Takeuchi(2016). Research has also predicted that the onset of the monsoon season will be
1–1.5months earlier than before (Nowreen etal., 2015). This change in precipitation regime induces different
hazards, including floods, soil erosion and landslides, in the study area. For example, respondents in the present
study mention that a landslide occurred in 2008 after prolonged rainfall, and the geological surveys of Uddin
etal.(2013) and Alam and Islam(2017) have demonstrated that heavy rainfall, deforestation, and channel forma-
tion were responsible for landslides and sedimentation in this study area. Different mining activities, particularly
“rat-hole mining”, sand and stone extraction, and the slash-and-burn method of agriculture practiced in the neigh-
boring hills, also eliminate vegetation cover, promoting soil erosion and subsequent sedimentation, as shown by
past research (Dikshit & Dikshit,2014; Lamare & Singh,2016; McDuie-Ra & Kikon,2016; Singh,2019) that has
illustrated how different mining activities in Meghalaya increase soil depletion and subsequent sedimentation.
The results from respondent surveys in the present study also indicate that sedimentation has a devastating nature
in the LPH. Through transboundary rivers and streams, floods bring sediment that forms a thin layer on top of
agricultural land, resulting in large amounts of land that were once used to grow rice and vegetables becoming
bare. Similar findings have been reported by Kafle etal.(2017) in the Koshi River (Nepal), Das(2015) in the
Brahmaputra River basin (India) and Bhuiyan etal.(2017) in the Padma River (Bangladesh). Wetland dwellers in
the haor landscape no longer possess the land for agriculture due to other impacts of sediment deposition caused
by sand encroachment that may cover houses and destroy infrastructure, such as yards, markets, roads, religious
sites, Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) camps, and schools. At the distal end of the rivers, where the channels
enter the water bodies of the haor, the lakes are infilled with sediment, leaving little water for irrigation and water
flow in the dry season. As coal combines with sand sourced from the upstream hillsides, the sediment becomes
more acidic than before, with an increase also in the abundance of dense red clay transported during floods in
the study area. As a result, the haor wetland water bodies are shallowing due to enhanced sedimentation (Wang
etal.,2020) and their mineralogy has changed.
Sedimentation has thus had a significant impact on the livelihoods of people in the haor region. During the
monsoon season, inhabitants engage in natural fishing because of the vast water bodies present. In winter, they
engage in farming, as the haor becomes a large floodplain. Based on this natural ecosystem, fishing and rice farm-
ing are the primary and secondary occupations. Because the haor water bodies and cultivated areas are now expe-
riencing enhanced sand sedimentation, people living in the wetlands have been forced to change their primary and
secondary occupations, from farming to quarrying or fishing to falconry. These precarious and temporary liveli-
hood options are causing an increased vulnerability. Other studies have also shown that changes in precipitation
may lead to unsustainable employment (e.g., Das,2015 for northeast India; Hossain etal.,2020 for Bangladesh).

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The unpredictable nature of sedimentation also impedes human livelihoods and settlement, especially as resi-
dential areas adjacent to cultivated land are lost, and residents, particularly those living near hills and streams,
are displaced from their original locations. This change has forced them to live more helpless and vulnerable
lives. For example, people have to stay with relatives during the monsoon season or seek shelter for fear of
sand and water fluxes from flash floods, even at night. As a result, families are sometimes forced to migrate to
nearby urban areas searching for alternative livelihoods (Chakraborty, Mondal, etal.,2012; Chowdhury, Kamal,
etal.,2012). Our study finds that such migration reduces exposure to sedimentation pressures, but it may increase
other risks— such as increased drug use, infectious diseases, and food insecurity (Ayeb-Karlsson etal.,2016).
Surface change due to sedimentation also disrupts vegetation successions, leading to forage shortages and the
destruction of grazing lands. As a result, livestock herds and their productivity have been reduced drastically.
Residents of the wetland communities in the study area are thus facing food shortages and inadequate income,
resulting in chronic poverty. Such poverty has its roots in excessive sedimentation, land degradation, biodiversity
decline, and the elimination of aquatic resources. For example, 40% of forest and high land vegetation in the
Tanguar Haor area of Sunamganj has disappeared over the last 30years (Haque & Basak,2017).
Due to mining and logging in the upstream hills, LPH is polluted with toxic coal particles, which are deposited
on the bottom of the water bodies, thereby disrupting habitats and reducing oxygen levels and sunlight needed
by aquatic life. This subsequently affects the reproduction and growth of fish, pearl oysters, snails and other
aquatic animals, as well as aquatic plants such as Makna (Euryale ferox), Singara (Trapa bispinosa), Lotus, Lily,
and Hogla (Typha elephantina). The unplanned use of fertilizers and chemicals on croplands formed from deep
waters after sedimentation has also led to a decline in fish productivity and diversity. Other studies (Lwenya &
Yongo,2010; Pal & Talukdar,2018) have shown that high turbidity and high sedimentation rates within water
bodies reduce fish populations significantly. In addition, problems with irrigation and the transportation of rice
from the paddies due to sedimentation contribute to stress. Our study highlights that the unavailability of surface
water due to sedimentation has increased problems with irrigation, as well as rodent and insect infestations.
Sedimentation has also increased the cost of transporting paddy rice, as the small channels previously used to
transport loaded boats have been infilled with sand. As such, the difficulties of rice transport due to increased
sedimentation have forced farmers to sell their rice at a nominal price. This shortage of irrigation water, the
infestation of rats and pests, and high transportation costs due to sedimentation have resulted in economic losses
in the study area.
The haor is a natural reservoir of rainwater, reducing the damage caused by floods; however, its rapid sedi-
mentation and reduced transport capacity have led to the degradation of rice-based livelihoods. In the current
study, it was found that during the pre-monsoon rice harvest, river water levels in the haor rise rapidly and vary
significantly due to the aggradation of the riverbed. Subsequently, when the rainy season arrives earlier than
expected, farmers do not have the opportunity to harvest their main livelihood crop, boro rice. The usual trend
of flash floods occurs every 2–3years, but the various unplanned protective measures and extensive mudflats on
the river now cause regular flooding, even in times with low rainfall. This unexpected frequency and magnitude
of flooding are increasing poverty and food insecurity for the haor inhabitants. This is in line with the findings
of Bormudoi and Nagai(2017) and Jakariya and Islam(2017), who reveal how sedimentation affects wetland
flood dynamics. Again, due to the constriction of channels due to sedimentation, these waterways are unable to
discharge water from the floodplain back into the main channels and river, thereby accelerating the accumulation
of runoff. As a result, farmers cannot plant rice promptly in the lowlands due to this increased flooded area. If
farmers delay planting rice, they also increase the likelihood that their crops will be threatened by hail or early
flash floods. Contamination due to sedimentation has also had a significant negative impact on the health of
inhabitants in the study area, such as water-borne diseases, skin disease, diarrhea, gastrointestinal disease and
hypertension.
Another severe impact of sedimentation during the rainy and winter seasons is the lack of water for drinking
and showering, which results in residents traveling long distances to take showers and drink water during the
winter season (Fang etal., 2020). Women, especially adolescent girls and newly married women, faced more
problems than others. In addition, the lack of firewood due to the growth of less aquatic vegetation (including
reeds, branches and grasses) due to sedimentation increased the workload and health risks to women (Maikhuri
etal.,2017). Similarly, many male-headed households migrated seasonally to other economic centers after losing
their livelihoods due to sedimentation. Male outmigration has also increased the social insecurity of women

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and children; for example, many female quarry workers were sexually harassed by their colleagues and quarry
tenants. Both OXFAM(2010) and Ahmed etal.(2019) came to similar conclusions concerning the increase in
sexual harassment of women and adolescent girls due to the post-flood migration of men. Migration is also linked
to the inability of vulnerable people to find work in sand and stone quarries, which local political leaders usually
hire. Sometimes these social stresses are so high that conflicts arise between residents and politically influential
quarry tenants.
6. Conclusions
It is evident that sedimentation is an important causal factor in natural disasters in the haor landscape of Bang-
ladesh and poses multifarious challenges and risks to the local population, in terms of the physical environment
and living conditions that affect, for example, income, education, employment, health, displacement, and sexual
harassment. Floods thus bring more than just water as a threat to the local population, and the role of sediment
needs far more explicit integration into analyses of flood hazards.
In addition, the present study is based mainly on insights gained from IDI and some descriptive analyses,
which provide new information on the history and effects of changing environmental conditions on humans.
These results reveal some of the critical factors affecting the lives and livelihoods of residents who have been
exposed to the increasing impacts of climate change for decades, and the influence of changing sedimentation as
induced by both climate change and other factors, such as land-use alterations. These vital societal, health and
economic implications of landscape change highlight the necessity of integrating such mixed-methods surveys
into physically-based analyses of landscape change that center around quantification and modeling of water and
sediment flux. The present findings also call for further research to investigate the changes to livelihoods in
landscapes affected by the increasing impact of sedimentation, but vitally that this research is transdisciplinary
and uses a common language across disciplines (Rangecroft etal.,2021). Our research in the haor landscape of
northeastern Bangladesh shows that increased sedimentation also triggers other problems, such as local conflicts,
sexual harassment, health issues and internal migration. These issues highlight the need for innovative meas-
ures in order to manage sustainably the haor landscape of Bangladesh, and vitally integrating multistakeholders
(Khan,2012) through government of all levels, NGO's and local populace. Such considerations need to coordi-
nate measures at basinal, regional and local scales, and over sufficient temporal durations, that focus on contex-
tual and spatial variations to help mitigate excessive sediment flux and its various impacts on human life at the
community level.
As this silent disaster of sedimentation remains, to date, explored insufficiently, comprehensive empirical
mixed-methods studies are essential to uncover the links between sedimentation and the well-being of local
populations. The findings from the present study reveal that the impacts of such silent and complex earth system
disasters are multidimensional and interrelated, thus demanding research using holistic approaches to address
these challenges in the future. Such mixed-methods studies should also investigate whether enhanced sedimenta-
tion, as exacerbated by climate change and increasing extreme floods, leads to changes in population dynamics
by affecting fertility decisions, migration and mortality differentials.
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We would like to thank the editors and
reviewers for their valuable comments
and suggestions, which helped to improve
the paper greatly. We also thank the
survey participants who agreed to be
interviewed and provided invaluable
information for the study.

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