Acute Water Crisis is Threatening ‘Chimbuk’,

The Cultural Landscape of Chittagong Hill

Tracks, Bangladesh
Khabir Uddin*

Abstract

‘Chimbuk’ represents one of Bangladesh's most important cultural landscapes. This is the
a long-term residence of the Mro community. The culture of ‘Chimbuk’ has a distinct
value. It currently faces an acute shortage of water as a result of deforestation and climate
change. This situation is forcing the Mro community to relocate. A shortage of water
during dry season, which seriously impacts the livelihood and way of life of the local
community. It also degrades ‘Chimbuk’'s cultural value. The objective of this study is to
take a closer look at ‘Chimbuk’s cultural value as a cultural landscape. It also focuses at
how the water crisis is affecting ‘Chimbuk’ and the Mro community severely. A
qualitative method has been conducted to find out the reasons for ‘Chimbuk’s endangered
status. Primary data sources included interviews, newspaper articles, and other sources.
Additional sources of information included relevant documents, publications, and reports
from different sources. The investigation was conducted out in ‘Chimbuk’, which is
situated between 22°3' 27.26" N and 92°15' 17.68" E in the Bandarban hill district. This
mountain, which is the third biggest in Bangladesh, is one of the most prominent sights.
Along the Bandarban-Thanchi route, ‘Chimbuk’ is situated 26 kilometers from the
district town. The region is already losing its cultural character and biodiversity, despite
being one of Bangladesh's most significant cultural landscapes.

Keywords: ‘Chimbuk’, Cultural landscape, Climate change, Water crisis, Bandarban,

Chittagong Hill Tracks.

_____________________________
*Khabir Uddin
PG student, Department of Bengali in Jagannath University, Dhaka. Doing research on
history and culture of ethnic group, climate migration, heritage, folklore and regional
culture. Published two research articles and presented a paper named `As Partition is
Depicted In Bangla Folk Song: An Auditory Brief Discussion’ in a three day multilingual
international seminar on `Partition of 1947: Reflections on Society and Literature’
November 2023 organized by Banaras Hindu University, India. Published a book named
`Guhar Bhetor Hater Chap’ on history of humankind. Has a great passion with research
and writing.

Phone (Whatsapp): +8801568073716

Email: lanchubangla.jnu@gmail.com

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