Assessing the socio-environmental challenges by floods in 2017: a case from an Upazila of Northern Bangladesh

Northern Bangladesh is more vulnerable to climatic variability, flash floods, upstream heavy rainfall, early floods during the pre-monsoon period, two or three times flooding in a certain year, and poverty as well. This paper explicitly focuses on the socio-environmental challenges associated with the 2017 flood disaster in northern Bangladesh. This study is based on mixed methods. Almost data of the study are collected from primary sources (household survey, FGD) and the remaining data are obtained from authorized sources. The devastating floods in 2017 inundated one-third of Bangladesh, destroyed nearly 700,000 homes and damaged 4,680,000 hectares of cropland. In addition, the socio-economic conditions of the 2017 flood victim HHs in northern Bangladesh are sub-standard compared to other regions of Bangladesh. Some sort of variables (geophysical environment and human interventions) make floods vulnerable. Therefore, social and economic security, rebuilding damaged infrastructures and institutions, public awareness, and regional and delta planning are crucial parts of the mitigation of the effects of disastrous floods in northern Bangladesh.