Vulnerability to riverbank erosion in India and Bangladesh: A review for future research framework

Riverbank erosion is one of the most perilous calamities which results in vulnerabilities associated with various dimensions of physical and human environments. Vulnerabilities to riverbank erosion is reflected in a multi-faceted form covering ecological, physical, social, economic, political and physical and psychological health aspects. With regard to demographic profile, socio-economic conditions and physiographic setting, India and Bangladesh are severely vulnerable to riverbank erosion. This paper makes an attempt to analyze the researches on vulnerability to riverbank erosion in India and Bangladesh. It provides a summary and analysis of the vulnerabilities to riverbank erosion, identifies the research gaps and irons out a way forward for future researches. The possible research gaps are listed after carrying out a systematic literature review over a period of 34 years from 1988 to 2021. A total of 94 articles were chosen for this study using keyword search and thorough reading of the abstracts. The deliberation of the articles was carried out through descriptive and thematic analysis. The identified research gaps revealed that among various aspects of vulnerability, political and psychological vulnerabilities to riverbank erosion are fairly uncharted; ecological vulnerability is also underrepresented. Studies focused on particular target groups based on gender, age groups and other socio-cultural parameters are limited and there is a wide scope of increasing the use of remote sensing, GIS and hydrodynamic models in assessing vulnerability to bank erosion. Though a substantial body of work has been produced on riverbank erosion, vulnerabilities posed by this disaster require to be represented adequately.