NATURAL CALAMITIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH Muinul Islam Ecological Catastrophes in

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries of the world. Whenever the country hits the headlines of the world press and the other media, some natural or man-made calamities occupy the centre of attention, playing havoc with human lives, crops, cattle raising, poultry, fishery, houses, roads, forests and many other types of property and economic infrastructure. The loss of about half a million people during the 1970 cyclone and tidal surge stunned the world into disbelief about the killing potential of such a natural phenomenon. After the colossal losses of humanlife during the two major man-made disasters of the liberation war of 1971 and the famine of 1974, natural calamities have again emerged as the major killers in this region during the last decade, the most recent devastation being the cyclone and tidal surge of 2