Consultation Workshop: Peoples’ Plan of Action for Management of Rivers in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh

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From: <uttaran.dhaka@gmail.com>

Dear all, greetings from Uttaran! 

We have the pleasure to invite you to “Consultation Workshop: Peoples’ Plan of Action for Management of Rivers in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh”, on January 30-31, 2010, at IDRT, Uttaran, in Tala, Satkhiria. The consultation workshop will bring together community representatives from eleven river basins in southwest coastal region in Bangladesh to present findings from basin based consultation and develop a regional plan of action for community based river basin management. “Technical and scientific experts” from Centre for Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) and Institute of Water Modeling (IWM) will also join the program. 

Many of you are aware of the chronic environmental crisis of waterloging in southwest region that plagues the region for more than a decade and every year hundreds of thousands of hectares of land goes under water for five to six months creating suffering for more than half a million people and indirectly affecting million more people.  Uttaran has been working closely with communities for decades and learned that the crisis has a long history that lies in development interventions on the river system in the region, imposing engineering-structural solutions, without considering the local water and river management knowledge and practice. Structural-engineering solutions implemented by government institutions, with finance and technical advice from international lending agencies, have not solved the problem. Uttaran has been learning and advocating indigenous water and river management practices from the communities to find sustainable solution. 

It is also important to take note that the climate change will further exacerbate the situation in southwest and unless urgent action are taken, millions of people living on the river basins in southwest will suffer. Uttaran has learned from the communities that adaptation to climate change induced sea level rise and its impact on livelihood can only be found in community wisdom and indigenous water and river management practices. For years Uttaran has been working together with Paani Committee, a community forum focused on water and river management, to facilitate such a process. 

Community participation has been a jargon used  too often in development arena but allowing the communities to review problems and plan their own solutions rarely happens. Uttaran thinks that a real participatory process can function where communities are provided with adequate space to develop their own plans and proposals. In this respect, over the last few months, Uttaran, together with Paani Committee, has been facilitating a consultative process in eleven river basin in southwest to learn more about the crisis and identify environmentally sound and economically viable solutions. This workshop will be a culmination of findings from these consultations to develop a regional plan of action for community based river basin management in southwest coastal Bangladesh. 

Uttaran experience has shown that community based river basin management and climate change adaptation is inseparably linked in the context of southwest coastal Bangladesh. We appreciate your active participation in the consultation workshop.

For any further enquries please contact: <uttaran.dhaka@gmail.com>

Please visit http://riversandcommunities.wordpress.com/ for regularly updated information linking knowledge, policy and practice for community based river basin management in southwest.

You can also find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37069773660 

Thanking you, 

Shahidul Islam

Director, Uttaran

Consultation Workshop: Peoples’ Plan of Action for Management of Rivers in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh

Date: January 30-31, 2010

Venue: IDRT, Uttaran, Tala, Satkhira, Bangladesh

Organized by: Uttaran and Paani Committee

Description: The consultation workshop will bring together community representatives from eleven river basins in southwest coastal region in Bangladesh to present findings from basin based consultation and develop a regional plan of action for community based river basin management.

Acknowledgement: Centre for Geographical and Environmental Information Services (CEGIS) and Institute of Water Modeling (IWM)

Eid festivities elude 2 lakh people in Tala upazila: 3-week long waterlogging, crop damage bring misery to them

The Daily Star, 24 September 2009

Eid-ul-Fitre, the Muslims’ greatest religious festival observed on Monday, failed to bring any cheer to around two lakh flood-affected people in Tala upazila as the agriculture-dependent people lost their standing crops and betel leaf plantations due to the waterlogging since September 5.

Same is the situation of the Hindu community people ahead of the Durga Puja.

The affected people are passing hard days due to acute scarcity of food, drinking water and medicines as rainwater and water from the River Kabodak entering the area cannot recede to the silted river.

With outbreak of diarrhoea, skin diseases and other intestinal diseases, a large number of patients have been admitted to Satkhira Sadar Hospital and Tala Upazila Health Complex.

Unprecedented water logging has also caused extensive damage to roads, bridges, culverts, educational institutions and dwelling houses, especially the thatched and earth-made ones.

Commuters are suffering due to suspension of road communication between Satkhira and Khulna as the road at Noapara on Satkhira-Khulna road in Tala upazila has gone two to four feet under water.

According to the district Relief and Rehabilitation Office (DRRO), about 2 lakh people of about 41,000 families have been affected and crops on several thousands acres of lands have been damaged as all the 12 unions in Tala upazila have been inundated.

A source in the DRR office, however, said they are yet to get the total estimate of losses.

As a group of journalists including this correspondent visited some of the flooded areas yesterday, the affected people said they are passing miserable days as the government is yet to come forward to mitigate their sufferings with relief supplies.

“We are almost fasting for the last two days,” said Sirajul Islam of Kashipur village in Tala upazila.

“Nobody has come to us with food,” Sita Rani Mondal, a flood victim of Raripara village in Kumira union, said.

Scarcity of drinking water is also prevailing there.

Tala Upazila Nirbahi officer Khan Reza-un-Nabi said 3,595 families have become shelterless as their kutcha houses were collapsed and they have taken shelter in makeshift houses beside roads and on high lands.

On contact, Satkhira Deputy Commissioner Md Abdus Samad said he has written to the higher authorities concerned to sanction 500 tonnes of rice and Tk 10 lakh to mitigate sufferings of the affected people.

Road under water for 10 days

Passengers to and from Satkhira and Khulna suffer due to waterlogging

The Daily Star, 17 September 2009

Direct road link between Satkhira and Khulna has remained snapped since September 6 as about two-kilometre long portion from Mirzapur to Noapara on Satkhira-Khulna road went under water from overflowing Kabodak River.

Water is flowing about three to four feet high at Mirzapur on the road and passengers to and from Satkhira and Khulna have to use boat or rickshaw van to cross the area, sources said.

Convoys of rickshaw vans carry passengers on Satkhira-Khulna road at Mirzapur in Satkhira district yesterday as waterlogging since September 6 has stopped plying of buses in the area. Photo: STAR

The situation ahead of Eid-ul-Fitre and Durga Puja is causing immense suffering to thousands of passengers who have to count extra money to cross the inundated portion.

Businessmen and shrimp traders are also suffering a lot as transport of goods is hampered, sources said.

At least 227 villages in Tala upazila have been inundated and about 2,00,000 people living on the banks of the silted Kabodak River have become marooned as water from overflowing river created water logging there since September 6.

When contacted, Executive Engineer Abdur Rahim of Satkhira Roads and Highways Department said, “The government has sanctioned Tk 23 crore to repair the damaged road including Noapara-Mirzapur portion on Satkhira-Khulna road. But it will not be possible to repair the inundated road until water recedes.”

Thousands of residents of Tala upazila town are suffering as downpour for several days along with water from overflowing Kabodak River caused waterlogging in most of the areas in the upazila town.

Their movement I hampered as all the roads of the town have gone under three feet to four feet rainwater.

Functioning at offices including the UNO office, banks, business establishments and educational institutions at Tala upazila headquarters have been hampered greatly as water entered there.

Rainwater and floodwater remain stagnant, creating water logging in the areas during the rainy season almost every year, as the water cannot recede due to lack of proper drainage system, said Tala Muktijoddha College Principal Enamul Haque.

Water logging on a vast swath of land poses a serious threat to livelihood and environment in the area, said Tala Sadar Union Parishad Chairman Nazrul Islam.

Satkhira town waterlogged

The Daily Star, 9 September 2009

Over 25,000 people of Satkhira town have become marooned as ceaseless rain over the last couple of days inundated different areas of the town.

With knee-deep water inside their houses, the affected people are suffering greatly while at least ten roads of the town have gone under three feet to four feet water.

As the rainwater cannot recede due to lack of proper drainage system, most of the areas in the district town see waterlogging, making life of the residents, especially in the low-lying areas, miserable.

Children catching fish on flooded Rasulpur-Bakchara road in Satkhira town that saw serious waterlogging due to the recent downpour, below, rainwater enters shops at Palashpole. Photo: STAR

The problem has become a regular affair during the rains but the authorities concerned have not yet taken any measure to solve it, said several townspeople.

Most of the houses in Kamalnagar, Raispur, Rasulpur, Mehedibagh, Palashpole, Madhu Mallardangi, Sultanpur, Rothkhola, Katia Sarkarpara, Masterpara, Daulatpur, Kamal Nagar, Itagachha, Baddipur and Chaltetala areas are inundated.

Rasulpur-Bakchara intersection road, Rasulpur High School road, Palashpole-Court road, Rathkhola-College road, Sultanpur road, Raispur road, Daulatpur road, Madhu Mallardangi road, Kamal Nagar road, Court road, Ghoshpara road and Baddipur road are now under water.

People including children are seen catching fish in roads at Rasulpur, Rathkhola, Raispur and Daulatpur in the town.

On contact, Satkhira pourasava Chairman Sheikh Ashraful Haque said, “We have taken a plan to solve the problem but it could not be implemented due to fund constraints. We have submitted a project to the authorities concerned and we are hopeful of solving the water logging problem in the town areas very soon.”

Perennial waterlogging problem poses a serious threat to livelihood and environment on a vast swath of land in Satkhira district.

Land remains submerged as riverbeds go higher

Tapos Kanti Das, Khulna. NewAge, May 30, 2009

Areas in the south and south-west lying lower than the sea-level may remain inundated for long, compounding the sufferings of the people, said experts and the organizations working with water related issues.
   

People affected by cyclone Aila take refuse on the ground floor of a government shelter centre intruded by flood water at Shyamnagar in Satkhira on Friday. Photo: Focusbangla/NewAge 

The areas were submerged as tidal surges whipped up as high as 13 feet by cyclone Aila, which crossed over Sagar Island into India Monday evening, fell over the land crossing the embankment.
   

Koyra, Dacope and part of Paikgachha and Dumuria in Khulna, Shyamnagar and part of Assassuni and Tala in Satkhira and part of Sarankhola, Morrelganj and Mongla in Bagerhat were worst affected. Many stretches of embankments also breached in the places, said sources in administration.
   

Sources in the Water Development Board said 48.965km stretch of embankment had been fully destroyed and 218.15km of stretch had been damaged partially in Khulna.


Water that collected during the tidal surges cannot recede as the Kapatakshi, Marichchap and Bhadra rivers, which have their beds silted over the years, were flowing above the low-lying areas in places such as Shyamnagar, Tala and Assassuni in Satkhira, Paikgachha, Koyra and Dumuria in Khulna, the Paani Committee presidentm ABM Shafiqul Islam, said.
   

He said the riverbeds are higher by one to three feet than low-lying areas in places and in other places the river bends are on a level with the low-lying areas. He said it was time the rivers were dredged lower than the low-lying areas.
   

Khulna University environmental science professor Md Salequzzaman said water had entered even the villages which had never been submerged in such cases in about 100 years.
   

He said if proper measures were not taken to flush out the water collected on the land lower than the riverbeds, a large area in the southwest, such as Bhabadaha Bil in Jessore, may remain dry permanently.
   

Salequzzaman said for water collected on the land to recede, it is imperative to drain water out of the river first.
   

In places where the river bends and the land are on a the same plane, the embankments need to be cut to allow water to be flushed out during ebb tide and then the embankments should be constructed properly, he said.
   

Shankar Kumar Das, 38, a resident of Atghara at Tala in Satkhira, said the River Kapatakshi flowing by the village had been silted up and the water collected on the land could not be flushed out as the riverbed is higher than the land. People need to wait for the sun to dry up the water collected on the low-lying areas.
   

Khulna division Water Development Board executive engineer Zulfikar Ali Hawlader said the department was taking measures to construct and repair the damaged or destroyed embankment stretchers and to flush out the water that collected on the land during the cyclone.

Food, water crisis aggravates in Kabodak basin areas

Correspondent, The Daily Star, Satkhira, October 28, 2008

The inclement weather came as a severe blow to over two lakh people in Kabodak basin areas, as rains and waters from the swelled river aggravated the flood and inundated more areas. 

Several thousand people who too shelter on roads and high places earlier are now virtually passing miserable days under the open sky. 

At least 124 villages in 15 unions in Tala and Kalaroa upazilas in Satkhira are worst affected as more water from the swelled river the areas overflowing the banks of silted Kabodak. 

The areas are already water-logged for about two months as waters from the river remained stagnant.

The villagers are passing days half-fed for lack of works as croplands are now under water. There is also acute crisis of fodder and poultry birds are also dying, locals said. 

Most of the areas are under two to three feet water now. The villagers are almost isolated from other areas because boat is the only means of communication. 

Over 25000 homeless families have taken shelter in at least 42 make shift centers built on high lands in the affected areas.

There is a crisis of food and drinking water in those places. Most of the tube wells are under water.

There is no trace of any crop on about 70, 000 acres and at least 85 shrimp enclosures have been inundated, causing a loss of about Tk one crors, farmers said. 

Flooding recurs every year, keeping crop lands under water for over six months silted Kabodak is dying.

Water-logging in the areas is taking serious turn year after year affecting livelihood, Deara Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Anowarul Islam in Kalaroa upazila said. This is a problem since the 80s, he added. 

Satkhira Deputy Commissioner Mizanur Rahman visited the affected areas and said the administration will take steps to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people.

Paani Committee urges government: ‘Solve waterlogging, end woe of people in Kobadak basin’

The Daily Star, October 11, 2008

Leaders of Pani Committee (committee for water), an organisation floated by local people), yesterday urged the government to take measures to solve the persisting waterlogging problems in the Kabodak basin to mitigate sufferings of the affected people. 

They said over 2,00,000 people in 24 unions under five upazilas in Satkhira and Jessore districts remained marooned as water from the silted river Kabodak entering the areas through breaches of embankments and due to overflowing of banks, they said at a press conference organised by the committee at a hotel in the town. 

Affected people are sufferings for lack of food and pure drinking water as waterlogging is hampering agriculture and other income generating activities, they said. 

Stressing the need to take up a long-term project to dredge silted Kabodak River in the south-western region to solve the waterlogging, they urged the government to declare the under-water areas as a ‘disaster zone’.

The worst affected upazilas are Kalaroa and Tala in Satkhira and Manirampur, Keshabpur and Jhikargachha upazilas in Jessore district, Pani Committee President Principal ABM Safiqul Islam said while reading out a written statement. 

Over 10,000 homeless people have taken shelter on high lands in the affected areas and the people are facing acute scarcity of food and pure drinking water, he said. 

The problem has aggravated over the years due to declining flow of the Ganges, deposit of silt in the Kabodak, unplanned coastal embankments and shrimp cultivation, he said.

He demanded that the government arrange sufficient relief for the affected people and their rehabilitation after receding of the stagnant water.

Expressing concern over spread of skin diseases and diarrhoea in the affected areas, he urged the political parties and NGOs to stand by the affected people.

100 villages inundated in Jessore, Satkhira

Correspondent . Jessore, NewAge, October 2008

At least 100 villages under Monirampur, Keshabpur, Abhaynagar, Jhikargachha and Sharsha upazilas in Jessore and Tala and Kalaroa upazilas in Satkhira were inundated due to torrential rain for last few days and onrush of water from upstream. 
   

The River Ichhamati overflowed due to torrential rain and flooded the villages, causing immense sufferings to thousands of people. Crops on vast areas in the two districts also went under water. 
   

The Jessore district administration had already allocated some 13 tonnes of rice for the flood-affected people. Sources in the district administration said 45 villages in Monirampur, Keshabpur and Kalaroa upazilas had been inundated by flash flood apart from nine unions in the region and six wards under Jhikargachha municipality. Some 40,000 people in these areas had been marooned by floodwater, the sources added. 
   

NDC Jahid Hossain told journalists that the River Ichhamati overflowed and inundated a number of villages in Sharsha upazila. The river was flowing above danger level. 
   

Abdul Majid Mollah, the executive engineer of Water Development Board, informed journalists that the River Kobadak also marked a sharp rise due to onrush of water from upstream. 
   

Many villages, including Benapole Putkhali, Bahadurpur and Goga, under Sharsha upazila were submerged by floodwater, he said. 
   

Almost all the villages under the Sagardari union council in Keshabpur upazila were inundated as the River Kobadak crossed danger mark a few days back. 
   

Shaheruzzaman Selim, of Sheikhpura village under the Sagardari union, told New Age that his cropland went under water. ‘The authorities concerned should immediately provide relief for the flood-affected people in the areas,’ he said.

Food, water crisis in 85 Kobadak basin villages

Correspondent, Satkhira. The Daily Star, October 8, 2008

With deterioration of waterlogging in Kobadak basin areas, over 75,000 people living there are passing miserable days amid crisis of food and drinking water.

At least 85 villages in 28 unions in Tala and Kalaroa upazilas in Satkhira and Jhikargachha, Manirampur and Keshabpur upazilas in Jessore district were inundated as water entered the areas overflowing banks of the silted river Kabodak. 

Photo: The Daily Star

There is severe crisis of food and drinking water in those places and marooned people are passing miserable days for lack of work as croplands are now under water. 

The worst affected unions are Sarulia, Tala Sadar, Islamkati, Dhandia, Kumira, Khalishkhali, Magura, Jalalpur and Nagarghata in Tala upazila, Deara, Jugikhali, Joynagar and Jalalabad unions in Kalaroa upazila, Bakra, Hajirabad, Nirjaskhola and Panisara unions in Jhhikargachha, Trimohoni, Bidyanadakati, Mongalkote and Sagardari unions in Keshabpur and Jhhapa, Mashimnagar, Hariharnagar and Rohita unions in Manirampur upazila in Jessore. 

Most of the areas are under two to three feet water now and the villagers are almost isolated from other areas as boat is the only means of communication. 

Over 1,657 homeless families have taken shelter in the makeshift houses on high lands in the affected areas, sources said.

Standing crops on about 30,000 acres of land were submerged. At least 45 shrimp enclosures and over 1760 ponds inundated and shrimps worth Tk one crore were washed away.

Water logging on a vast swath of land and homestead poses a serious threat to livelihood and environment in the areas where waterlogging has become a problem since early 80s, said Sarulia union parishad Chairman Matiar Rahman.