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Ecological Neglect and Partition’s Legacy: Environmental Disparities between East and West Pakistan(1947-1971)

Saima Rahman Anika*

ID

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv2i3_0002

Pages: 17-28

Keywords: Environmental Disparities, East and West Pakistan, Partition of India, Political Ecology

Abstract

This study examines the environmental aspects of the disparity between East and West Pakistan between 1947 and 1971, establishing that ecological neglect was inherently linked to the political and economic divides brought about by the partition of India in 1947 rather than a natural occurrence. Pakistan was created as one nation, but its two wings were administratively, physically, and environmentally distinct. East Pakistan’s deltaic ecology was characterized by floods, cyclones, and riverine instability, which was often ignored. West Pakistan received steady governmental investment in irrigation, industry, and water management through projects like the Indus Basin system. This paper examines how disparate development approaches increased ecological vulnerability in East Pakistan, influencing patterns of migration, agricultural stress, and resource exploitation. It does this by focusing on environmental, economic, and political history. The Bhola Cyclone of 1970, the Kaptai Hydroelectric Dam and the displacement of indigenous communities, the Sundarbans mangrove forest, and the Royal Bengal Tiger, disturbances to the jute, tea, and river systems are a few examples of case studies in this paper that show how environmental catastrophes exposed more profound regional exploitation structures. Secondary literature, oral histories, economic statistics, and archival sources are used to show economic marginalization. Salinization, river erosion, and increased susceptibility to disasters are all consequences of this negligence that still exist in modern-day Bangladesh. This study reframes partition as both an ecological and political crisis with long-term implications for postcolonial development and environmental justice in South Asia by emphasizing the environment as a historical actor.

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Published

15 July 2026

How to Cite

Anika, S. R. (2026). Ecological Neglect and Partition’s Legacy: Environmental Disparities
between East and West Pakistan (1947-1971). SIMEC Bulletin, 2(3), 17-28.
https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv2i3_0002

Anika, S. R. 2026. “Ecological Neglect and Partition’s Legacy: Environmental Disparities between East and West Pakistan (1947–1971).” SIMEC Bulletin 2 (3): 17–28. https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv2i3_0002

S. R. Anika, “Ecological Neglect and Partition’s Legacy: Environmental Disparities between East and West Pakistan (1947–1971),” SIMEC Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 17–28, 2026, doi: 10.71391/sbv2i3_0002.

Anika, S. R. “Ecological Neglect and Partition’s Legacy: Environmental Disparities between East and West Pakistan (1947–1971).” SIMEC Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 3, 2026, pp. 17–28. DOI: 10.71391/sbv2i3_0002.

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SIMEC Bulletin

2026, Vol. 2(3), 17-28

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71391/sbv2i3_0002

ISSN: 3006-211X (online);

3006-2101 (print)

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