A sea of tears: the flooded people of South Bangladesh

With ocean levels rising, and shrimp farms proliferating, villages in south Bangladesh are being flooded by the sea. There is no water to drink, so people must search for it daily, writes Tahmima Anam.

Guardian, June 20, 2009

If you look at a map of Bangladesh, you will see that the southern coast has a meandering, indistinct border. This is the home of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, with its strange, submerged trees, its Royal Bengal tigers, and its mythical figures such as Bon-Bibi, goddess and protector of the forest. It is where the delta ends and the sea begins.

Water has been the making and unmaking of Bangladesh. It is the reason the rice grows thick and fast, why the rivers ripple with fish, why the land is carpeted with green. But the water is also cruel. Every year, torrential rains flood villages and farms; rivers break their banks, swallowing great chunks of land, destroying the homes, and the dreams, that are built upon it.

Now, through disasters both man-made and natural, water is wreaking a new kind of havoc. Due to rising sea levels in the Bay of Bengal, and because the government has encouraged the unchecked growth of shrimp farms, the villages scattered along the south-western coast are being flooded with salt water. Large tracts of land, previously green with paddy, are now hot and stagnant pools, hospitable only to the cultivation of shrimp. The shrimp farms are lucrative, but they employ fewer people than the rice farms they have supplanted, leaving many households without an income. The briny water also has ruinous effects on the ecosystem. Nothing grows in these districts any more: the fish have died, along with the birds that depended on them. The cows have nothing to eat, so there is no milk; the tigers are fleeing inland and attacking humans. Worst of all, there is no fresh water to drink.

Munem Wasif’s photographs capture the desperate search for drinking water that has become a daily struggle for the villagers of southern Bangladesh. Their wells and fresh water sources contaminated, they spend the better part of their days in the search for water. Women make the long trek to the nearest source, kolshi flasks heavy on their hips. Children are taken out of school to help with water collection. Some villagers have taken collective action: every day, they lead small boats through the forest, gathering water and supplying their entire village. Others have no recourse but to pray – to the skies, to God, to Bon-Bibi – for the sweet, life-giving water that once coursed abundantly through this land.

• Munem Wasif visited Bangladesh with the support of Prix Pictet, which aims to communicate issues of global significance through photography, and WaterAid, which manages clean water and sanitation projects in the developing world

Diarrhoea spreads in cyclone hit south and south-eastern districts amid water crisis

Staff Correspondent, NewAge, June 3, 2009

People in the remote areas of the south and south-eastern districts, inundated by tidal surges associated with cyclone Aila on May 25, are still facing acute crisis of drinking water, food and medicine amid an alarming spread of water borne diseases.
   

A total of 17,708 persons contracted diarrhoea in Khulna and Satkhira in the past seven days, said offices of the civil surgeons. On Tuesday alone, 4,320 people with diarrhoea were treated in the hospitals of the two districts.
   

Political parties in the affected region alleged lack of coordination in relief and rehabilitation activities in the southwest districts even after visits by ministers.
   

Donor agency Oxfam on Tuesday said more help from the international communities in relief and rehabilitation activities was needed in the affected areas where water became contaminated and diseases were spreading fast.
   

The sanitation systems have collapsed in the affected areas and human, animal and fish corpses are polluting the countryside, the organisation said and branded the affected areas as ‘an ideal breeding ground for all kinds of diseases’
   

Reports from Barisal said more than five thousand tube-wells in the Brasial division were out of order, triggering acute crisis of drinking water while water-borne diseases were spreading.
   

The Barisal public health engineering office said they had repaired about two thousand tube-wells. Sources in the office said a total of 5,203 tube-wells were out of order in six districts of the division.
   

Infiltration of saline water and filling of sand and mud after embankments and flood control dams were broken in the affected areas, especially on the shoals and coastal regions, damaged the tube wells.
   

Md Yunus Ali, superintending engineer of Barisal PHE, said teams of mechanics have already been sent to the affected areas and already 2,000 tube-wells have been repaired and the rest would repaired or replaced within this month.
   

Reports from remote areas in Satkhira, Khulna and Barguna said the relief materials that reached the areas were inadequate and the affected people also alleged mismanagement in the distribution of the little food and water.
   

In remote Shyamnagar of Satkhira, where diarrhoea is spreading alarmingly, people said they did not get medicine while the medical officers working in the affected region said they had enough medicine in their stock but failed to reach them to the remote areas for lack of transpiration or funds.
   

‘Medicines could not be reached to the remote villages as boat was the only mean of transpiration when people in the areas are in bad need of medicine,’ said Ataur Rahman who leads nine medical teams at Shyamnagar.
   

Members of medical teams deployed in different areas of Shyamnagar and Dacope said they were reaching the remote villages in boats on their own funding and it is tough for them to continue the medical services in this way.
   

The Satkhira civil surgeon, Ebadullah, and the Khulna civil surgeon, Md Lutfor Rahman, said they did not get any fund for transporting the medicine to the remote areas.
   

They claimed that they were trying to send the medicine at the earliest and the medical teams have been spending money on their own.
   

The Khulna district and city units of BNP in a press conference on Tuesday alleged that they observed lack of coordination in the post-Aila rehabilitation activities in the southwest districts, even after visits by the ministers to the Aila-hit areas.
   

The party alleged that though lakhs of people have been passing days half-fed or unfed after the cyclone, the government has not taken effective steps.
   

It called on the government, donor agencies and the affluent to stand by the affected people.

Many Aila-hit Areas Still Under Water: Diarrhoea takes alarming turn, cry for food, water

The Daily Star, May 30, 2009

Diarrhoea spreads fast in some upazilas of Satkhira, Khulna and Barisal districts as thousands of cyclone-affected people there are forced to drink contaminated and salty water.

With almost all tube-wells, ponds and other waterbodies under saline water, people of Shyamnagar and Assasuni upazilas in Satkhira and Dakop and Koira in Khulna are left with no sources of safe drinking water.

Clockwise: People of Padmapukur union under Shyamnagar upazila in Satkhira queue up on an embankment yesterday for relief. A man in quest of drinking water at Atulia union. Women suffering from diarrhoea take refuge at the staircase of a shelter home at the same union. Fish washed away from ponds by tidal surge lay dead near an embankment in Assasuni upazila. An elderly man collects relief materials at Atulia. Saline water rushes into Pakhimara of Padmapukur union through a breach in the embankment of the Kholpetua River.

Photo: Anisur Rahman/Daily Star

Meanwhile, thousands of people marooned in remote char areas have been starving even five days into Cyclone Aila that ripped through the south-western coast on Monday.

As of yesterday evening, the death toll from the storm was 183. Official sources however put it at 155.

“Supply of clean water cannot even meet one-fourth of the need,” said a diarrhoea victim.

In Shyamnagar of Satkhira, around 600 people are down with diarrhoea every day, Dr Mohammad Ebadullah, district’s civil surgeon, told The Daily Star.

The locals, however, said the number is much higher than what the civil surgeon claims.

Our correspondent from Khulna reports: Over 4,000 people marooned by floodwater at Kamarkhola, Sutarkhali, Tildanga, and Banishanta unions have got diarrhoea in the last four days, said Kazi Atiur Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Dakop upazila in Khulna.

Union chairmen said the water-borne diseases like diarrhoea are taking an alarming turn because of scant supply of medicines and water purification tablets.

Around 2,000 people stranded in five unions of Koira upazila have contracted diarrhoea, said locals.

Arif Pasha, UNO of Koira, disputed the number. He claimed only six persons have been admitted to the upazila health complex with diarrhoea, and of them, only one is in critical condition.

He however admitted that medical teams are struggling to reach many areas, as road communications there remain snapped.

In Shyamnagar, yet-to-be-buried bodies of livestock have started rotting and spreading sickening stench. Moreover, a huge amount of dead fish, snakes and other animals were floating on the water, making the air fetid.

People queuing in front of Atulia Union Parishad Health Complex for medicine said scarcity of drinking water has left them no alternative but to drink contaminated water.

Mujibur Morol said he needs medicine for his mother suffering severe stomach pain and vomiting for the last two days.

Those in the inaccessible areas are suffering most as they have to walk a long way for water and food distributed at the upazila headquarters.

Jarina Khatun said, “I had to wade waist-deep through floodwater to come here for some rice and medicine for my four-year-old girl down with diarrhoea.”

Lokman Ahmed, a medical officer in Atulia Health Complex, said he distributed medicines to 400 diarrhoea patients throughout the day Thursday and 200 in only one and a half hours yesterday.

“The number of patients is rising, and the medicines we have are not enough to meet the demand,” he said.

Nazrul Islam, health assistant of the upazila health complex, said, “We urgently need oral saline and medicines to cope with the rising cases of diarrhoea and dysentery.”

On the main road in Atulia, many were seen waiting for water for hours. They alleged they were not getting basic relief like drinking water and food.

The diarrhoea situation is getting worse at Padmapukur, Gabura, Burigowalini, Munshiganj, Bhetkhali, Pratapnagar, Assasuni Sadar, Khajra, Anulia, Borodal unions under Shyamnagar and Assasuni upazilas.

District Civil Surgeon Ebadullah said as many as 25 medical teams were giving health care services in these two upazilas.

Our correspondent from Barisal reports: Most of the people in remote villages under Amtali upazila of Barguna have not yet seen any relief from government or non-government aid agencies.

Barisal district administration and relief and rehabilitation department sources said so far they have distributed Tk 2.10 lakh in cash and 210 tonnes of rice. And now they have only 10 tonnes of rice and no cash at all.

Health Minister ABM Ruhul Haque who visited the cyclone-hit areas in Shyamnagar upazila told The Daily Star that his ministry is supplying sufficient medicines to contain spread of diarrhoea.

Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque yesterday visited Hatia upazila of Noakhali and distributed relief materials among the survivors. He said the government has adequate relief to tackle the situation.

Aila victims cry for water, food

The Daily Star, May 29, 2009

Photo: Star

In the aftermath of Cyclone Aila, thousands of villagers in Bagerhat, Satkhira, Khulna, Bhola and Noakhali now cry for food and drinking water for survival, as relief operations are insufficient to deal with the enormity of the situation.

People, living in remote areas, are the worst-sufferers, as relief materials could not reach them even after four days of the cyclone Aila that smashed the coastal belt on Monday, UNB correspondents report after visiting different affected places.

In some places, people are forced to drink polluted water to quench their thirst.

Diarrhoea has broken out in the cyclone-hit areas and it may soon take epidemic form unless the government provides water purification tablets and medicines to people in such areas.

Medical teams are not sufficient to treat hundreds of diarrhoea patients. Four people have so far died of diarrhoea in Satkhira, reports UNB correspondent.

Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque had nearly a four-hour meeting till 1:00am today in Satkhira with the local administration to ensure supply of relief materials for Aila victims.

Lt Col Zillur Rahman, who is coordinating the army relief activities in Satkhira, told the meeting in presence of food and disaster management minister that relief did not reach many remote areas when the government officials claimed sending relief materials to each remote area.

“A woman dropped to my foot and begged simply for a bottle of water to give her kid who remained unfed for the last three days,” the army officer said while narrating the actual scenario of relief distribution.

UNB Bhola correspondent said many people remain half-fed for the last three days. “Some local NGOs are working with the government but supply of relief materials is very poor,” he said.

Many people were stranded in some 20 isolated chars where government relief has not reached yet.

UNB Khulna correspondent said people were not prepared for such disaster. People’s misery has doubled, as the government could not send the cyclone warning quickly, like it had done before the Cyclone Sidr.

He said over 200 people are still missing in Khulna and survivors in remote areas are crying for food and water.

A resident in Hatiya of Noakhali told UNB that three navy ships have distributed relief packets containing 500 grams of chira (flattened rice), one candle and a bottle of water.

They distributed 250 such packets at Tamruddin union and 125 each at Char King union and Sukhchar on Wednesday, he said adding that the relief was too scanty to meet the demand.

Amena Begum, a 63-year-old woman at Padmapukur union in Satkhira, said: “I can’t express my grief, everything seems meaningless. How can I survive as my key means of earning, a cow, has died. Also I’m homeless now.”

Mamunur Rahman, another cyclone victim from the same union, said he is in great trouble, unable to manage food for his three-member family. He said he had been given meager relief only once.

“I can’t say how I feel when my three-year-old child Nazma cries for food. I can’t do anything,” he said, adding that he would manage to survive with his family if drinking water could be found.

A similar scenario prevailed everywhere, as the correspondents found while talking to dozens of people in Bhola, Satkhira, Khulna and Hatiya.

Most of the people were seen crying for water, food and fuel to cook foods.

Diarrhoea has broken out in the cyclone-hit coastal areas of Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Bhola and Hatiya for lack of safe drinking water. Inadequate medical teams and medicines have made the situation critical, UNB correspondents said.

Satkhira Civil Surgeon Dr Md Ebadullah told the reporters that 37 medical teams are working in the affected areas of the district.

South Asia cyclone contaminates water sources

Nita Bhalla, AlertNet, May 28, 2009

Tens of thousands of cyclone survivors in India and Bangladesh desperately need clean water after the storm contaminated drinking sources with sea water, aid agencies say.

Relief workers also warned the death toll could soar if there are outbreaks of water-borne diseases following massive flooding.

Packing winds of up 100 kph (60 mph), cyclone Aila slammed into eastern India and Bangladesh on Monday, killing at least 240 people and injuring over 6,500.

The storm whipped up 13-foot (4-metre) tidal surges which tore through embankments, sweeping away homes, ravaging crops and damaging roads and bridges.

About 4.6 million people in India’s West Bengal state and around 3.7 million living along Bangladesh’s coastal belt are estimated to have been affected.

Dozens are still missing, including a group of 16 children in India who were playing in an abandoned house which was washed away by a raging river in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

As government officials and aid workers scramble to help, they say there is a dire shortage of clean drinking water because sea water has inundated hundreds of rivers, ponds and wells.

“The tidal waves and the upward flow of sea water into river deltas have deposited saline water contaminating all drinking water sources,” said Dr P.V. Unnikrishnan, ActionAid’s emergency coordinator for Asia.

“There is an urgent need to provide clean drinking water as well as clean up all the contaminated water sources.”

In India, eight districts in West Bengal, including the city of Kolkata, were affected while in Bangladesh, 15 districts including Barisal, Satkhira, Barguna, Khulna and Patuakhali were seriously affected.

Some areas remain inaccessible as roads, railways and bridges have been damaged and aid workers fear hundreds of villagers are stranded with little assistance.

DISEASE WARNING

Aid workers say thousands of people, who had sought refuge in cyclone shelters, schools and other buildings, are beginning to return home to find their houses destroyed, their fields submerged and their livestock dead.

“Families have lost their homes, livestock, crops, access to work and food and, in many cases, clean water and sanitation,” said Ned Olney, vice president of Save the Children’s global humanitarian response.

“We are working to get water treatment plants up and running so that a bad situation does not get much worse through the spread of disease.”

There are fears of outbreaks of water-borne diseases in the coming days, followed by illnesses like malaria in the coming weeks.

“Hygiene risks are becoming a major issue as dead fish and livestock decompose – cholera, diarrhoea and skin infections are all expected to rise,” said a situation report by Save the Children India.

Aid workers say engaging communities in helping to clean up water sources through cash-for-work programmes should be initiated now rather than as part of the early recovery phase.

They add that sanitary services such as building pit latrines, provision of basic sanitation items such as toilet paper and soap as well as public health education could help control the spread of diseases.

“We are fortunate that the number of deaths in this disaster is relatively less,” said Unnikrishnan.

“But as has happening in the past, we could find more people dying from preventable diseases than from the direct impact of the disaster if we do not take action now.”

MONSOONS

The inundation of salt water has also destroyed paddy crops and rendered some agricultural land unusable.

While most villagers managed to harvest their rice paddy before the disaster, many had not sold their stocks, which were washed away in the floods.

Relief workers say the flood waters have also washed away seeds and destroyed stocks of freshwater fish and shrimp.

There are hopes that monsoons due in the coming weeks will flush out fields, ponds and rivers and also provide drinking water to affected communities.

“The monsoons will really help relief efforts as far as water issues are concerned as we can then get people to harvest the rain water, rather than dealing with trucking in water and supplying water purifications tablets,” said Dr Babar Kabir, director of Bangladesh development organisation BRAC’s disaster programme.

“Water is the immediate need but we will indeed have to look at long-term recovery for many people.”

Khulna Shrimp Cultivation Area: Thousands suffer from drinking water crisis

The Daily Star, April 19, 2009. Amena Khatun, back from Khulna

A few decades of shrimp cultivation has rendered the surface and ground water sources too saline for consumption in two upazilas in Khulna and an acute drinking water crisis has arisen in the area affecting thousands of locals.

People living in the Dakop and Paikgachha upazilas are suffering from such a severe shortage of safe drinking water that it has resulted in widespread diarrhoea and dysentery in the area.

Residents of Kamarkhola, Kalinagar, Saharabad, Joynagar, Satgharia villages under Dakop upazila and Madhukhali, Hanirabad, Radhanagar, Alokdip, Munkia, Dighalia, Bainchapara village in Paikgachha upazila are so hard hit by the problem for the last couple of months that they live in fear of massive health disaster at anytime.

Dr Akbar Hossain from Dakob upazila health complex said that around 12-15 people are seeking admission in the complex each day and the numbers are increasing rapidly. Most of those admitted are children under the age of five and are suffering from diarrhoea and dysentery.

“They all suffer from acute respiratory infection (ARI) from consumption of impure water,” he said.

Locals say high levels of salinity in surface and ground water has almost become a permanent problem here. Even the water pumped out by deep tube-wells is too saline for drinking.

They complained that the local administration is yet to take any constructive initiatives to solve this problem.

According to Dakop Upazila Nirbahi Office, a total of 2216 ponds in 106 villages under nine unions of the upazila cater to villagers drinking water needs. But most of the ponds have dried up in recent months due to the soaring temperature and especially because the area has not experienced any rainfall this year.

Chhabi Rani Mandal, 40, a housewife from Kalinagar village, told this correspondent,

“Every day I walk 6 kilometres to fetch one pitcher of drinking water from nearby village. On days it is not possible for me to do so, my children are forced to drink the muddy and salty water from the almost dried up pond nearby. They are all suffering from dysentery now.”

Jhumpa Roy, a student of class five at Kamarkhola Government Primary School ,said she gets to drink a glass of water during the six hours (8.00 am to 2.00 pm) at school. Jhumpa, Shavan, Rupa, Mohon and many other children of the school say that that’s the best glass of water they get to drink in a day.

Shavan said, “Often students get into a fight when the water in the containers dip to the bottom levels as children think they will not get their share that day.”

Asim Roy, headmaster of the school, said, “Most of the students suffer from dehydration due to the small amount of water they get to drink.”

“I have applied several times for funds to build a concrete water reservoir to the Thana Education Officer (TEO) but didn’t get any response,” he said.

Dakop Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohsin Ali however said that his office is about to launch a project soon to set up water reservoirs in each school to partly overcome the drinking water crisis. He added that since the government has limitations to respond to such schemes quickly enough, private organisations should come forward to help.

Shamaresh Roy, Chairman of Kamarkhola Union said, “We hope to dig a fresh pond but the present crisis would continue until the monsoons if the government doesn’t come forward with alternatives.”

World Vision, a non-government organisation working in the area, has dug two ponds while and excavated 20 others to help solve the crisis, but that doesn’t entirely solve the crisis faced by the majority of the people in the area.