Living with or beside the river : Control of Brahmaputra’s hydrological dynamics v/s peasant mobility ; Vivre avec ou à l’écart du fleuve : contrôle des dynamiques hydrologiques du Brahmapoutre v/s mobilité des communautés paysannes

International audience ; In North-East India, every year during the monsoon season, the level of the Brahmaputra rises and floods cover the plain with silt and sandy sediments. The Brahmaputra undergoes extreme changes with regards its channel configurations, involving the erosion of cultivated and village lands. To prevent these phenomena, the territorial authorities have built embankments along the riverbanks in order to improve land use and to protect human settlements. Nevertheless, the Mising tribe has been used to coping with floods for a long time. They practise different types of paddy cultivation and grow varieties that can adjust to the various ecosystems. They also used to move their settlements according to how the river channels shift. However, nowadays, communities can barely transfer their dwelling-places when their villages are washed away because land records restrict their movements. Protected by embankments, villagers are no longer used to having to face floods. Consequently, they are not prepared when the river suddenly breaches embankments. Families find themselves landless and have to adjust their livelihoods. This paper focus on how the government is managing river dynamics, such as flood and erosion and how the riverside inhabitants adjust their livelihoods to newly created conditions. We question whether embankments effectively protect people or contribute to increase risks. ; Au Nord-Est de l'Inde, chaque année pendant la mousson, le Brahmapoutre entre en crue et inonde sa plaine, recouvrant alors les terres de limons et de sédiments sableux. Le chenaux du fleuve sont particulièrement dynamiques et provoquent l'érosion de terres cultivées et de villages. Pour éviter ces phénomènes, les collectivités territoriales ont construit des digues le long des rives afin d'améliorer l'utilisation des terres et de protéger les établissements humains. Les Mising, "peuple du fleuve" se sont longtemps adaptés aux aléas hydrologiques. Ils déplacaient aussi leurs villages suivant le mouvement des ...