Coastal Risk: Concepts and Background

Abstract

The West Bengal coastal areas are the part of Bay of Bengal (BoB), and it is geomorphologically and hydrologically dominated by the Ganga river system. This is being continually attacked by cyclones, storm surge, sea waves, sea level rise and long-shore tidal currents, which have caused terrific erosive transgression over the aerial and subaerial part of deltaic Sundarbans and littoral zones of Midnapore coast. In recent decades the coast is being ravaged by embankment breaching, submergence and flooding, beach erosion and siltation at protruding jetties and reduced channel navigation, are all aerial and subaerial hazardous processes making the coast prone to vulnerability and subsequent long-term coastal risk. Hence, the assessing of coastal risk is a crucial task for sustainable coastal zone management in terms of erosion, anthropogenic activities, violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules (due to continuous erosion/accretion and lack cohesion and lobby), sea level fluctuation (due to combined effects of climatic, geologic and other physical process) and global warming and biosphere (exchange in atmosphere of trace gases). This chapter introduces the concept and background of coastal risk and different types of methodological approaches which are significant in managing the coastal environment of east coast.