A landscape built by water

 

A landscape built by water

Bangladesh delta, that is a landscape built by water. Water formed its landscapes through centuries of sediment transportation from the Himalayas, making it a tide-dominated delta. Water constructed its cultural landscapes by nourishing its soil with rich silts. Here, water created life and became a source of living. Then, water became the connector for the landscapes and the livings by flowing literally everywhere... in every corner, as if reaching almost every home. It created cities: the capital city dates to 400 years ago, originating by the river Buri-Ganga and all the major cities became significant connection points through river or seaports.

The extremely fertile landscapes and abundance of fresh water supply made it a productive and densely populated region. In return creating a need for more cultivated lands and dense cities, leading to loss of forests. For a land where 80% lies in a flood plain, 1/4th under 2m elevation, having a forest coverage of 11% is rather alarming. The accelerated climate change will impact the delta from both ends, the changes in river streams due to glacier melting in the Himalayas, as well as increased salinity and flooding due to sea level rise creating backflow of tidal surges from Bay of Bengal.

 

This is the shifting landscape of Bangladesh delta, where water builds, but it is also a threat.

 

It is a contemporary uncertain landscape, a tide dominated delta, where historically the landscapes produced conditions for widely distributed inhabitation.