Surviving the Catastrophe

After heavy storms and winds that wrecked an entire village, 300 makeshift houses were built on a dilapidated dam in 2009. The villagers still tremble while recalling the devastating storm as they speak about how they built the village against the soaring currents of Shibsha River. "It was difficult but we made it," says Alauddin Mia, a boatman of Jhulonto Para. "Every month we change bamboos to make the houses stronger and to survive the tidal surge." 

In Jhulonto Para, literally meaning a floating village, houses are built on 'hanging' platforms made of bamboo. On one side, there is a large pond, while on the other, cultivable land and the largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, separated by Shibsha. The Google map shows the small strip of houses in Kolabogi, the lower part of Dacope Upazila, Khulna. It is now home to at least 1,000 displaced families.   

Photos: Din M Shibly

Khulna and Satkhira are the regions that have been hit hardest by the cyclone Aila. Tidal waves, as high as 13 feet, damaged over 1,700 km long dams in Dacope and Koyra in 2009 (as reported by Water Development Board– WDB). Even today during full moon and the monsoon, most parts of Sutarkhali, Komorkhola, Baniashanta and Tiladanga become inundated with saline water. According to figures by the WDB, faulty dams and saline water displaced over 200,000 people in the area over the last five years. 

Climate change has already made its mark in the coastal belt of the country. The swelling of sea surface temperatures in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean is one of the reasons behind repeated natural disasters like cyclones and tidal surges. The country's geographical location has thus put it in an inescapable situation.   

Photos: Din M Shibly

Atul Roy, a farmer from Kolabogi who lost at least 200 bighas of land in river erosion, says, "After Aila struck, we started realising how hard it is to live without shelter, income and food." He continues, "Since then there has not been any improvement or even a sign of hope."

Two of his six sons moved to India with their families due to lack of accommodation in the region. A distressed Atul says that they are passing the most critical time of their lives.

Atul and his four other sons, who stayed behind with their families, do not want to migrate to India. They want to observe the whole situation for some more months. Even then, if the existing situation persists, they would have no choice but to move to another place in the country.

Photos: Din M Shibly

An unplanned construction of the embankment in Kolabogi has made life unbearable. It has allegedly left many villagers unprotected. The Star Weekend found that the WDB made a two-kilometre long dam leaving the lower delta of Sutarkhali Union, Dacope, exposed to similar natural catastrophes in the future. The new dam kept out two wards (eight and nine) of Sutarkhali Union that includes 2,000 bighas of cultivable land, a huge water body, a school, a madrasa, a temple and a bazaar. A Union Parishad member (prefers to remain anonymous) claims that at least 1,300 families are at risk because of the newly built dam. "The engineer claims that it is not possible to protect the village," he says. "If the government neglects the need, we will be wiped out from the map."

M Inamul Haque, chairman of the Institute of Water and Environment, explains that it is completely irrational to exclude such a huge population. "Embankments are made to protect people, not to put them in trouble. Without a doubt, people who are living in the excluded area, are at risk," he says and adds, "If the authorities claim that only Sutarkhali Union is at risk, either they are not well-informed about the prevailing situation or they are corrupt."

Photos: Din M Shibly

Geographically, Dacope and Koyra are vulnerable, as is the case everywhere in the coastline. After the infamous flood that hit the country in the late eighties, the embankments in the southern coastal belt broke apart.

Despite the catastrophe, the people living there have turned the tide to convert it into a story of hope and survival, rather than one of disaster. Today, the only accessible and easy means of transportation available in Jhulanta Para is the boat. Everyday, men and women travel long distances to collect fresh and drinkable water. They have survived the hardest blow without any support from public and private organisations. They have even invented their own method of building houses to endure tidal surges. With the help of empty barrels, few of the bamboo houses have been made to float. People collect water and preserve it using their own indigenous methods. 

The saline water continues to poison the cultivable lands in these areas every year. Nearly 4,500 hectares of cropland producing the Aush paddy have been submerged in saline water. For some unknown reason there is no cyclone shelter or a government health service centre at the lower part of Sutarkhali Union. "We are fighting against nature with bare hands," says Atul Roy. "I don't think our voices reach the government, which is why we are trying to survive using our own means."