Such an Act is the Diluvion-Alluvion Act. Here the very words Diluvion and Alluvion are almost unknown to most people. Not knowing that these concern erosion and accretion of land in river they seldom care to think over these. As a result mostly illiterate poor people are very often deprived of their right to diluvion land by the cunning land grabbers exploiting the existing Act to their benefit.

Although this Act was adopted for the poor and the landless immediately after independence but later on it was amended and changed and actually did not remain pro-poor any more.

The Diluvion-Alluvion Act adopted by Bangabandhu government in 1972 was that, if any land is lost by erosion in river and occurred in accretion thereafter then it would be owned solely by government and none else. Government would declare it as khasland where only the helpless landless people would get the right to till and produce crops. The poor erosion victims would get allotment of such land on priority basis. It was also told that government would exempt them from taxes too. In fact the Act was so made to discharge the state responsibility to the poor landless people. This act also could check landgrabbing, terrorism and anarchy in char areas.

It's true in Bangladesh chars are notorious for violent as well as deadly clashes. And these occur because the influentials just fall on to grab whenever any accretion is sighted. Our land offices are also notorious for corrupt officers and staff. The land grabbers tend to prepare false documents with their help and claim the newly accreted lands as their own. This leads to clash for possession. At the same time the poor erosion victims just remain dispossessed and landless and whenever they try to mention of their right, not to speak of asserting it, they are oppressed and threatened. This leads to the influx in rural-urban migration and increase in city slum population to the concern of not only the city fathers but also the society as a whole.

In 1994 the Diluvion-Alluvion Act was amended to the effect that no accretion shall be owned by the government rather if any erosion is found to be rising in accretion within 30 years, then the earlier owner would get it back subject to some conditions. Apparently it seems alright but the ground reality is that the accretion is not the eroded land, sites are always different, and the measurement? There is no such record of meeting all claims of all erosion victims. In fact, in most cases claimants are not the actual victims. And there are possibilities enough for the actual victims to suffer deprivation. Taking the advantage of their illiteracy and poverty the cunning well-to-do exploiters have benefited with the possession whenever there was an occasion of accretion in rivers utilising the loopholes of the Act. Even they often succeeded in evicting the landless poor who might have moved there losing their homesteads in river erosion.

In fact, this amended existing Diluvion-Alluvion Act has led to a lot of conflicts and litigations with both old and new char lands. Exploiting the loopholes of the Act and provisions that remain almost inaccessible for the poor illiterate landless farmers, the cunning occupy these lands even through registration. Although they fight among themselves for the possession of the lands but the actual deserving erosion victims are always kept at bay.

That this Act is not desirably effective is proven by the fact that while river erosion is rendering thousands landless and homeless, not even hundred are becoming owners of the accreted chars with the help of this Act. And just a further probe reveals that most of the owners are well to do persons made richer with the new possessions.

In a poor country like Bangladesh we need laws and Acts that are really pro-poor. Otherwise the national policy of poverty alleviation or for that matter achieving an MDG shall just not be possible. But the Diluvion-Alluvion Act is exploited otherwise by the land grabbers. They are coming up with a claim that a charland belonged to them 30 years ago. But it actually wasn't. They might have lost some land in river erosion, but not the one they are claiming. The poor settlers came there in course of a few years when it accreted, tilled the land, grew crops and settled. The new claimers exploiting the Act evict them from the settlement, adding another group to the landless class, who would ultimately crowd the city slums and inflate the number of ultra poor.

This is just not desirable. To cure the existing malady, it would perhaps be better to revert to the earlier Diluvion-Alluvion Act of 1972. There it was mentioned that whatever accretion, it would be considered khasland and government would take steps to distribute it to or among the victims (the former losers). At least in such provision the administration would get the opportunity to scrutinise the genuinity of the claimants, and judge who deserve it most.

The present government in most cases is acting for just causes. We believe in this case also it would act to contain the number of landless poor from being inflated further. A major step seems to be making the Diluvion-Alluvion Act pro-poor plugging the loopholes of exploitation.

Md Abdul Kader is Executive Director, Samata.