The analytical inseparability of natural environment and society is reiterated by the findings of... more The analytical inseparability of natural environment and society is reiterated by the findings of this study which contributes to a genre of studies that centre-stages the socio-ecological system. This study seeks to understand the interplay of state-related and other modes of securing property rights in the context of pervasive coastal hazards through a case study from the Indian Sundarbans region (Sagar Island in West Bengal). This paper also contributes to research pertaining to slow-onset disasters and attempts to examine emerging dimensions of land scarcity as well as diverse modes of access to land in the context of progressive ecological vulnerability. The analysis highlights the varying shades of declining land access and investigates how existing land policies and disaster management mechanisms remain far from extending security to communities experiencing environmental crisis. The paper thereby examines how community and state agencies adopting means to allocate property may in fact refute legality and perpetuate informality. [] Mallik, C., Bandyopadhyay, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., 2023. Land scarcity and land access in a hazard-prone island: Sagar, Indian Sundarbans. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 44(2): 255–276. doi: 10.1111/sjtg.12493 [] Full text here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/BAACSFIXXM4GJWMTPJRS?target=10.1111/sjtg.12493
Data scarcity has hindered studies on the impacts of climate change on land prices in the coastal... more Data scarcity has hindered studies on the impacts of climate change on land prices in the coastal regions of developing countries. Focused on the Indian Sundarbans, this paper is at the forefront of such research. Market conditions in the region feature unregulated transactions, unenforced zoning, and a lack of disaster insurance. For many residents with hereditary land ownership, stark poverty eliminates any risk buffer provided by savings or other non-essential liquid assets. Using new household surveys and environmental data, our study hypothesizes that salinization and cyclone strikes have already adversely affected land prices. We quantify such impacts using a georeferenced panel of 342 salinity monitoring stations and a spatial raster database on all cyclonic storm strikes since 1970. Our econometric results reveal highly significant negative impacts for both factors. We use the regression results to predict land prices for the most and least favourable environmental condition...
This article adopts a place-based approach to explore tiger atmospheres in the Sundarbans, a tran... more This article adopts a place-based approach to explore tiger atmospheres in the Sundarbans, a transboundary environmental commons and major climatic hotspot in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of India and Bangladesh. We argue that affective intensities of greed ( lobh), fear ( bhaya), respect ( srodhya), trust ( biswas) and empathy ( karuna) sensed by the tiger subject contribute to novel theoretical as well as empirical insights into co-belonging and intersectional multispecies justice. We explore these animal atmospheres through multi-sited ethnographic research that include embodied observations, photographs, 31 in-depth interviews and focus groups with impoverished as well as racialised low-caste Hindus (Dalits/Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (Indigenous peoples) and Muslim forest-dwellers in India and Bangladesh. This attention to more-than-human geographies, animal atmospheres and subaltern stories situated in the Bengal delta unsettles macro-narratives of forest conservation a...
This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It a... more This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It analyses the main drivers of change, environmental pressures, impacts on adapted spaces, social effects and policy reactions. It also draws a number of conclusions.
Every year, the Bay of Bengal coast shared between India and Bangladesh is struck by one or more ... more Every year, the Bay of Bengal coast shared between India and Bangladesh is struck by one or more cyclonic storms during both pre- and post- monsoon seasons. Although the inhabitants of this region remain mentally prepared to withstand the devastation caused by natural calamities, they don’t have adequate financial support to combat the physical losses involved. This year, super cyclone Amphan caused irreversible disruptions to lives and livelihoods among those living in the Sundarban and along the coastal areas of Odisha. This paper aims to explore the collateral damages caused by Amphan across both India and Bangladesh. We intend to identify the ground reality of disaster governance – what goes wrong and why? Furthermore, how is it that, in spite of a widespread awareness concerning the hazard-prone character of this coastline, permanent solutions are never sought? This question leads us to a quest for alternative channels of governance. With an overview of success stories across d...
This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It a... more This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It analyses the main drivers of change, environmental pressures, impacts on adapted spaces, social effects and policy reactions. It also draws a number of conclusions.
Metropolitan centers usually do not reveal iso-diametric spatial configurations, as they have evo... more Metropolitan centers usually do not reveal iso-diametric spatial configurations, as they have evolved with gradual non-homogeneous transformation of land. The spatio-temporal distribution of urban functions reveals centrality towards a particular area. The preferred centre usually identifies itself with accessibility and diversity in urban activities, which is usually synonymous with the urban core . Location of urban core is a product of both horizontal and vertical zonation of urban functions. Due to its complex and dynamic character, delineation of the urban core is a challenging subject of research. Effective and uniform techniques for delineating the core area of an urban center have been developed over time as, undeniably, it is of utmost importance to the urban planners, ecologists, architects, environmentalists, economists for the study of urban dynamics. This paper attempts to use geo-spatial data and use a composite of three important criteria for identification of the urb...
The new millennium is getting increasingly dependent on virtual media and technology. E-media, wi... more The new millennium is getting increasingly dependent on virtual media and technology. E-media, with its speed, cost efficiency and smartness, has captivated millions of scientists, bureaucrats, planners, businesses and common citizens. Rapid urbanisation and growing spatial dependency in urban centres imply multiple challenges from urban development authorities and urban local bodies (ULBs) to ensure developmental sustainability. Since the 1990s, good governance has captured the limelight in urban development dialogues and literature. With the emergence of new information and communications technologies (ICTs), electronic interfaces are increasingly entrusted with the attainment of good governance goals. The situation demands new flexible forms of pro-citizen administration that are capable of strengthening transparency and accountability. Academic attention to the ICT-driven urban governance and quest for an optimum model has led to the establishment of the domain of e-governance. ...
Wetlands and water bodies are important elements of Kolkata’s landscape as they form sensitive ec... more Wetlands and water bodies are important elements of Kolkata’s landscape as they form sensitive ecological niches for both flora and fauna. These ecosystems provide numerous services and, at the same time, play an excellent role in balancing urban conservation needs in the fight against ecological degradation. The city of Kolkata has recently witnessed the loss of innumerable water bodies due to alterations in land use related to the expansion of urban areas. This has advanced the city’s need for urban blue spaces so as to serve the citizenry’s quality of life and prioritise management policies. The rapid degradation of water bodies in Kolkata has created the necessity of preserving and restoring them; this can only be effectively executed through a process of economic valuation which takes into consideration the preferences of citizens. The study focuses on the conservation of a multi-purpose urban wetland—the Mudialy Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (MFCS), popularly known as a ‘Nat...
14 Regional Cooperation in South Asia Pakistan Perspective Khalid Amin The one premise on which t... more 14 Regional Cooperation in South Asia Pakistan Perspective Khalid Amin The one premise on which there is universal consensus among economists is that international trade is good for the socioeconomic development of all countries. South Asian countries will benefit ...
The analytical inseparability of natural environment and society is reiterated by the findings of... more The analytical inseparability of natural environment and society is reiterated by the findings of this study which contributes to a genre of studies that centre-stages the socio-ecological system. This study seeks to understand the interplay of state-related and other modes of securing property rights in the context of pervasive coastal hazards through a case study from the Indian Sundarbans region (Sagar Island in West Bengal). This paper also contributes to research pertaining to slow-onset disasters and attempts to examine emerging dimensions of land scarcity as well as diverse modes of access to land in the context of progressive ecological vulnerability. The analysis highlights the varying shades of declining land access and investigates how existing land policies and disaster management mechanisms remain far from extending security to communities experiencing environmental crisis. The paper thereby examines how community and state agencies adopting means to allocate property may in fact refute legality and perpetuate informality. [] Mallik, C., Bandyopadhyay, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., 2023. Land scarcity and land access in a hazard-prone island: Sagar, Indian Sundarbans. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 44(2): 255–276. doi: 10.1111/sjtg.12493 [] Full text here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author/BAACSFIXXM4GJWMTPJRS?target=10.1111/sjtg.12493
Data scarcity has hindered studies on the impacts of climate change on land prices in the coastal... more Data scarcity has hindered studies on the impacts of climate change on land prices in the coastal regions of developing countries. Focused on the Indian Sundarbans, this paper is at the forefront of such research. Market conditions in the region feature unregulated transactions, unenforced zoning, and a lack of disaster insurance. For many residents with hereditary land ownership, stark poverty eliminates any risk buffer provided by savings or other non-essential liquid assets. Using new household surveys and environmental data, our study hypothesizes that salinization and cyclone strikes have already adversely affected land prices. We quantify such impacts using a georeferenced panel of 342 salinity monitoring stations and a spatial raster database on all cyclonic storm strikes since 1970. Our econometric results reveal highly significant negative impacts for both factors. We use the regression results to predict land prices for the most and least favourable environmental condition...
This article adopts a place-based approach to explore tiger atmospheres in the Sundarbans, a tran... more This article adopts a place-based approach to explore tiger atmospheres in the Sundarbans, a transboundary environmental commons and major climatic hotspot in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of India and Bangladesh. We argue that affective intensities of greed ( lobh), fear ( bhaya), respect ( srodhya), trust ( biswas) and empathy ( karuna) sensed by the tiger subject contribute to novel theoretical as well as empirical insights into co-belonging and intersectional multispecies justice. We explore these animal atmospheres through multi-sited ethnographic research that include embodied observations, photographs, 31 in-depth interviews and focus groups with impoverished as well as racialised low-caste Hindus (Dalits/Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (Indigenous peoples) and Muslim forest-dwellers in India and Bangladesh. This attention to more-than-human geographies, animal atmospheres and subaltern stories situated in the Bengal delta unsettles macro-narratives of forest conservation a...
This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It a... more This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It analyses the main drivers of change, environmental pressures, impacts on adapted spaces, social effects and policy reactions. It also draws a number of conclusions.
Every year, the Bay of Bengal coast shared between India and Bangladesh is struck by one or more ... more Every year, the Bay of Bengal coast shared between India and Bangladesh is struck by one or more cyclonic storms during both pre- and post- monsoon seasons. Although the inhabitants of this region remain mentally prepared to withstand the devastation caused by natural calamities, they don’t have adequate financial support to combat the physical losses involved. This year, super cyclone Amphan caused irreversible disruptions to lives and livelihoods among those living in the Sundarban and along the coastal areas of Odisha. This paper aims to explore the collateral damages caused by Amphan across both India and Bangladesh. We intend to identify the ground reality of disaster governance – what goes wrong and why? Furthermore, how is it that, in spite of a widespread awareness concerning the hazard-prone character of this coastline, permanent solutions are never sought? This question leads us to a quest for alternative channels of governance. With an overview of success stories across d...
This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It a... more This book highlights the major issues that emerge from urbanisation processes in South Asia. It analyses the main drivers of change, environmental pressures, impacts on adapted spaces, social effects and policy reactions. It also draws a number of conclusions.
Metropolitan centers usually do not reveal iso-diametric spatial configurations, as they have evo... more Metropolitan centers usually do not reveal iso-diametric spatial configurations, as they have evolved with gradual non-homogeneous transformation of land. The spatio-temporal distribution of urban functions reveals centrality towards a particular area. The preferred centre usually identifies itself with accessibility and diversity in urban activities, which is usually synonymous with the urban core . Location of urban core is a product of both horizontal and vertical zonation of urban functions. Due to its complex and dynamic character, delineation of the urban core is a challenging subject of research. Effective and uniform techniques for delineating the core area of an urban center have been developed over time as, undeniably, it is of utmost importance to the urban planners, ecologists, architects, environmentalists, economists for the study of urban dynamics. This paper attempts to use geo-spatial data and use a composite of three important criteria for identification of the urb...
The new millennium is getting increasingly dependent on virtual media and technology. E-media, wi... more The new millennium is getting increasingly dependent on virtual media and technology. E-media, with its speed, cost efficiency and smartness, has captivated millions of scientists, bureaucrats, planners, businesses and common citizens. Rapid urbanisation and growing spatial dependency in urban centres imply multiple challenges from urban development authorities and urban local bodies (ULBs) to ensure developmental sustainability. Since the 1990s, good governance has captured the limelight in urban development dialogues and literature. With the emergence of new information and communications technologies (ICTs), electronic interfaces are increasingly entrusted with the attainment of good governance goals. The situation demands new flexible forms of pro-citizen administration that are capable of strengthening transparency and accountability. Academic attention to the ICT-driven urban governance and quest for an optimum model has led to the establishment of the domain of e-governance. ...
Wetlands and water bodies are important elements of Kolkata’s landscape as they form sensitive ec... more Wetlands and water bodies are important elements of Kolkata’s landscape as they form sensitive ecological niches for both flora and fauna. These ecosystems provide numerous services and, at the same time, play an excellent role in balancing urban conservation needs in the fight against ecological degradation. The city of Kolkata has recently witnessed the loss of innumerable water bodies due to alterations in land use related to the expansion of urban areas. This has advanced the city’s need for urban blue spaces so as to serve the citizenry’s quality of life and prioritise management policies. The rapid degradation of water bodies in Kolkata has created the necessity of preserving and restoring them; this can only be effectively executed through a process of economic valuation which takes into consideration the preferences of citizens. The study focuses on the conservation of a multi-purpose urban wetland—the Mudialy Fishermen’s Cooperative Society (MFCS), popularly known as a ‘Nat...
14 Regional Cooperation in South Asia Pakistan Perspective Khalid Amin The one premise on which t... more 14 Regional Cooperation in South Asia Pakistan Perspective Khalid Amin The one premise on which there is universal consensus among economists is that international trade is good for the socioeconomic development of all countries. South Asian countries will benefit ...
Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal, 2022
Data scarcity has hindered studies on the impacts of climate change on land prices in the coastal... more Data scarcity has hindered studies on the impacts of climate change on land prices in the coastal regions of developing countries. Focused on the Indian Sundarbans, this paper is at the forefront of such research. Market conditions in the region feature unregulated transactions, unenforced zoning, and a lack of disaster insurance. For many residents with hereditary land ownership, stark poverty eliminates any risk buffer provided by savings or other non-essential liquid assets. Using new household surveys and environmental data, our study hypothesizes that salinization and cyclone strikes have already adversely affected land prices. We quantify such impacts using a georeferenced panel of 342 salinity monitoring stations and a spatial raster database on all cyclonic storm strikes since 1970. Our econometric results reveal highly significant negative impacts for both factors. We use the regression results to predict land prices for the most and least favourable environmental conditions recorded in our database. The results show that these climate change-related conditions account for spatial differentials greater than an order of magnitude in land prices. Such extreme risk differentials suggest high financial and fiscal stakes, underscoring the critical importance of appropriately targeted adjustment policies.
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Papers by Sumana Bandyopadhyay