Mohiuddin Alamgir narrates the miseries of the Aila-affected area residents, a year after the cyclone had hit these parts. 

On the night of May 25, 2009, 50-year-old Babu Ranjan Baisnab, a resident of Dophadi Kheyaghat, of the Dacope upazila of Khulna district about 400 kilometres south-west of Dhaka, was relieved after the cyclone Aila gradually died out a few hours after hitting the area at a speed of 100 km per hour. Having survived with all of his family members, he vowed to start things afresh and work hard to fill up the losses of his house, substantial storage of food grain and other items required to support daily life.

   Ranjan was helped by the government and non-government organisations (NGO) members for the first few days, through the relief they provided, helping his family have two meals a day. However the regularity of this support faded as time passed.

   Ranjan, like hundreds of other families in the area, currently live with his family at a makeshift house near the embankment. Although they were promised and committed many things over the past one year by the government organisations, NGOs and even foreign governments, all of these promises are yet to materialise.

   ‘I had lost around 30 bighas of land along with my house, which is still underwater,’ says Ranjan on May 13. ‘The authorities did not take any steps to rescue these and I am in doubt whether I will ever get to see these during my lifetime,’ he adds.

   He mentions that while the government is still providing 19 kilograms of rice per month for his six-member family, the NGOs seem to have forgotten the promises they had made to him and many other family heads of the area.

   ‘I had heard that once the Water Development Board (WDB) reconstructs the embankment, I will get back my submerged land; however, I have not seen any work yet,’ he says.

   ‘I do not want any relief. I want my land and house back,’ he demands.

   60-year-old Sarala, of the same upazila, demands only clean water and food while collecting filthy water from a nearby pond at the Choto Jaliakhali area beside the Nalian-Dacope embankment. The water of the pond has turned yellow and is undoubtedly unhealthy.

   ‘We have to collect water from here as the water of all other bodies have turned into salt water and the wells and tube-wells are not functioning either,’ she says. ‘The scarcity of drinking water is driving most to go hungry for days as we are unable to cook food without water,’ she says.

   The residents of Gabura, an island union surrounded by the Kholpetua and Kapatakshi rivers, Chaudda Rasi canal at Shyamnagar in Satkhira and Koyra upazila of Khulna are also affected as they have to live in submerged houses and there is a dearth of clean drinking water and a crisis of proper sanitation system.

   Al Mamun Gazi, a class five student of Jaliakhali Government Primary School, rarely goes to school as his own family is living in submerged conditions and fears that he will not do well in the upcoming examination. ‘I cannot even play as there is no dry space for playing,’ he says.

   Mamun also misses his classmate Mallika whose family shifted to India earlier this year.

   Due to the persisting problems in these areas, a good number of families have relocated themselves to other parts of Bangladesh like Satkhira, Khulna and Dhaka while others, like Mallika’s, have moved to India after losing their houses, lands and means of livelihood.

   Crisis at large
   * Most of the Aila-affected people are living in submerged houses
   * The situation will be much worse if another disaster occurs in these areas this year: locals
   * Most residents have moved to other parts of the country with their families while other families have migrated to India for good
   * There is a crisis of clean water, dry and open spaces and proper sanitation system

Negligence at repairing and rebuilding of the embankments by the authorities, profiteering mentality of the NGOs,embezzlement of relief and rehabilitation funds by government officials, NGOs and the local leaders as well as other factors, are worsening the situation in these parts, thus driving the cyclone-affected locals toward an uncertain future. Most residents of the worst-affected embankments fear that vast areas could be submerged permanently as embankments are fast deteriorating beyond repair.

   The WDB failed to reconstruct the embankments entirely at a number of points, while at others they tried to temporarily stop the water from overflowing by applying mud. According to locals, most parts of the embankment are not built effectively, leading to the growing threat of breach and overflow of water during the upcoming rainy season.

   Jaliakhali, a remote village which has been flooded after a breach in the embankment point, cannot be reached that easily, with any form of vehicle. After the breach, the 15 to 20 feet wide canal of the area has turned into a 200 to 250 feet wide water body.

   Most of the mud-made four kilometre Kamarkhola-Jaliakhali road, by the river Dhaki, has been washed away during the first week of April this year at the Choto Jalikhali point. Although the embankment at Jaliakhali was reconstructed from February to April, after the cyclone last year, it was damaged within two days of completion, during the high tide at the Dhaki River.

   Most locals inform Xtra that the contractor, who took on the reconstruction work, had handed it to a sub-contractor who had used substandard materials in order to make more profit. As a result, the reconstructed embankment could not hold off the water pressure of the river for even 48 hours.

   Like Jaliakhali, other villages of Kamarkhola, Saharabad, Joynagar, Srinagar, Fakirdanga and Bhitedanga of Kamarkhola and Sutakhali, Taltala, Bainpara, Telirkona, Gunari, Kalabagi, Kewratala, Golbunia, Dakkhin Kalabagi and Nalian of Dacope and Koyra Sadar, Koyra 2 and Koyra 4 of Koyra are still underwater.

   According to NGO and government officials, riverside villages in the affected districts are submerged regularly during high tide, plunging at least 100,000 people of the embankment areas in severe problems. 

The locals point out that the crisis is getting worse as WDB is never prompt at taking the necessary measures. They inform Xtra that the work usually starts when the rainy season is knocking at the door leading to three times the expenditure of public money.

   Also, sub-contractors cannot ensure quality work due to the climate and water pressure during this time, and the work takes at least six months to be completed. The locals point out that the best season for such work is winter after which the water depth and velocity increases naturally.

   The Aila-affected people of these areas blasted WDB for their failure at doing the repair work within the shortest possible time, due to low salaries of the workers and the contractors’ tendencies to make more profit through the delay.

   Locals fear that as the construction work may take at least one year, thousands may lose their lives if any cyclone or floods hit these areas during this time.

   The Khulna WDB sources inform Xtra that most of the 10 to 15 feet wide eight enclosures of the 51 kilometres long polder number 32 of Dacope, starting from Nalian project, whose boundary also ends around the same area in an anti-clockwise direction, have increased to 100 to 150 feet in width due to excessive water pressure, making the construction work there difficult.

   These sources also add that as most of the embankments in the area were built around the sixties, the average height of the embankments is 4.27 metres. However, due to the increase in water level over the past few decades, the embankments need to be increased to a height of at least 5.27 metres now, to prevent water from entering the villages during any climatic disaster.

   To add to the concerns, WDB sources inform that the reconstruction and repair of the embankments may not be completed within this year. However, they are hopeful at being able to prevent river water from flooding the villages by raising smaller embankments.

   As WDB could not initiate the repair work within time despite floating tenders a number of times, the government deployed navy personnel in the affected areas to speed up reconstruction and repair work to complete the task in time.

   Executive engineer of Khulna Water Development Board, Mosaddeq Hossain, informs Xtra that only in Dacope, an area of around 84 square kilometres are submerged in water while around 120 square kilometres of land is underwater in Koyra Upazila of Khulna and Satkhira districts. According to Khulna WDB sources, around 17.9 kilometres of embankments were damaged entirely and 31.6 kilometres of embankments were partially damaged in the Dacope upazila by Aila.

   ‘Although we tried to prevent the flooding of the villages and worked hard to complete the work within time, we did not find contractors for the work although we did float tenders,’ says Mosaddeq.

   Both Dacope UNO Quazi Atiur Rahman, and Chairman of Kamarkhali Union of Dacope, Samaresh Chandra Roy, blame WDB and the contractors for the failure at reconstructing and repairing the embankments within time.

   Locals also blame the increased concentration of unplanned Gher projects (enclosure used to cultivate shrimp) as one of the reasons for the crisis in these areas as the natural flow of water has been hindered by these enclosures.

   Plunders
   * Reconstruction and repair of embankments are being delayed
   * Repaired Jaliakhali embankment was washed away only two days after the work was completed: locals
   * The contractors and subcontractors are using substandard materials to make more profit: locals
   * Locals and some decision-makers of the area blame the Khulna Water Development Board for the problems

* Government employees, local NGO workers, political party leaders and some influential have formed a syndicate that embezzles relief and rehabilitation funds: residents

The prevalent problems have driven most locals to migrate to other parts of Bangladesh while some have left the country with their families as the affected areas are not good for farming, fishing, day labour work and so on. Most of the locals, currently living in these areas, work for the numerous shrimp enclosures.

   At least 15 families of the Jaliakhali area have shifted to India. ‘Families of Bhupati Zoardder, Bhaben Zoarder, Shushanto Roy, Amal Roy, Sujit roy, Shanjit Roy and Komol of the area have shifted to India,’ says Paritosh.

   On the other hand Gabura union council chairman, Shafiul Azam, informs Xtra that about 5,000 residents have already left their homes for towns seeking jobs at the unions.

   ‘As we were facing an acute shortage of food, shelter, drinking water and proper sanitation, I moved to Khulna with my wife and only child from my village,’ says Shamsu Ali, a 45 year-old rickshaw puller in Khulna city. ‘I am fortunate that I am pulling a rickshaw when most of the Aila-affected people are currently begging in Khulna and other adjoining cities while also living substandard lives at the slums of these cities,’ he adds.

   People currently living under the open skies of these cities allege that the relief and rehabilitation work of the government and the NGOs are not sufficient. ‘Local leaders and NGO workers are embezzling funds, not providing rightful wages to the workers regularly while still making false promises to people like us, who have lost everything to Aila,’ complains a slum resident of Khulna city.

   There are also strong allegations of nepotism and partisanship against the local Union Parishad Chairman, most of the ruling party leaders and other influentials of the area. Some even claim that these individuals have formed a syndicate through which they embezzle the relief and rehabilitation funds and materials.

   Local leaders and elected representatives of the area, both from ruling party and the opposition party, are busy with their politics in the name of solving the problems, according to the Aila-affected people.

   They provide the government allocation of 20 kilograms of rice per family per month under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme as an example. Although this is insufficient for most five to six member families, the local authorities are actually providing only 19 kilograms of rice and keeping at least one to two kilograms to themselves while accounting this as ‘compensation for transport costs’.

   However, it was learnt from government sources that separate transport costs are paid to these individuals. ‘Relief and rehabilitation work is not reaching the affected due to the greed of local administrators, leaders and local NGO workers who consider the post- Aila situation as a profitable business opportunity,’ says Azizul Islam, a local inhabitant of Kalinagar.

Samaresh, chairman of the Kamarkhali Union, when contacted, denied all allegations.

   Residents of Kalinagar village allege that although the NGO’s have allocated Tk 17,000 for the repair of every 100 feet of local roads, in reality only Tk 8,000 is being used. They also point out that the local NGO workers are not paying the day-labourers regularly and are not implementing their campaigns in the way they were supposed to.

   Local NGO officials deny the claim. ‘Dissatisfied people are making these false accusations,’ says Samir Das, disaster monitoring officer of Rupantor a local NGO that works through USAID, Oxfam, Development Agency Corporation, Save the Children UK and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) funding.

   According to Nani Gopal Mondal, parliamentarian from the Khulna-1 constituency, consisting of Dacope and Batighata area, large-scale repair work on the embankments will commence from coming October. ‘Irregularities by NGOs at distributing relief is taking place in the area as there is no authority to monitor and coordinate the relief and rehabilitation work of the NGOs,’ he says.

   He also stresses that although corruption is taking place, it is not at the scale at which the locals are alleging.

   When cyclone Aila had hit these coastal areas around a year back, tidal surges as high as seven to eight feet, accompanied by heavy showers and wind had struck the residents on May 25, 2009. The cyclone claimed lives of 190 people, 1,50,131 livestock, affected 39,28,238 people of 9,48,621 families, damaged 6,13,778 houses, crops on 3,23,454 acres and 1,742.53-kilometre stretch of embankments, according to the official records.

   ‘I can only pray that our families will survive and our living conditions will not worsen as the rainy season approaches with increased possibility of cyclones, hurricanes and floods,’ dreads Ranjan.

   additional reporting by Tapos Kanti Das

Dr Ainun Nishat, vice chancellor of Brac University, speaks to Mohiuddin Alamgir of NewAge about the capacity of existing dykes and why the WDB needs to raise the embankments by another two metres to resist the tidal surges. 

One year after the cyclone Aila, some one lakh people are still living in a miserable state in makeshift houses on embankments and many argue that the failure to repair embankments has worsened the situation. 

The current dykes in the coastal areas were made in the 1960‘s and with the help of polders, the areas became habitable. During monsoon, high tides appear twice a month and stay for three to five days. Water also breaks in during depression at the Bay of Bengal. Without the dykes and polders, it would be hard to live in the areas.

   After Sidr and Aila a number of channels opened up and some of them became massive. There was very little time to fix them. 

   The slopes on the riverside should be flat and the dykes should be heightened by another two metres. 

   Not only do we have to rebuild the polders but we also have to ensure their strength to resist calamities and seasonal flows. For that, a lot of money is required and allocating 50 crore takas or 100 crore takas will not be enough.

   The existing polders constructed in the 1970 have overlooked proper management, development of internal drainage system and drainage for rainfall. The worsening scenario of the embankments is also attributable to the Water Development Board (WDB) flouting their own guideline and manuals for the maintenance of the dykes.

   In spite of repairs, the embankments in the coastal areas continue to erode and collapse. Are the dams strong enough to resist future waves of cyclones under such circumstances?

   Technological aspects have not been looked into. The civil engineers responsible for constructing the dykes are the same who design the high-rises and so, it is failing. The present dykes were not originally built to resist storm surges. The tide levels have also increased compared to the 1960s. Repair of the dykes are serious, complex and technical and the present WDB has not taken it seriously.

   Many environmentalists argue that embankments are also responsible for the inundation in the area. What do you think about that?

   There are debates against dams. Dam is a structure made across the river to hold water and control the flow of river but on the other hand, dykes or embankments prevents inundations.

   If critics understand the difference between dams and dykes a lot of the criticisms would not have found ground. I am not saying that dykes do not create problems and that is why I stress on the need for internal drainage conditions.

   The victims of the affected areas allege that relief and rehabilitation materials, and funds, are swindled by local ruling party leaders.

   It is a question of management and transparency. Since the dykes were not repaired during the last dry season I foresee problems arising in the future. I do not think it will be possible to finish the repair work during this monsoon. After water submerged the lands of the inhabitants, many people had to resort to living on dykes.

   There are also allegations about non-government organisations’ involvement in apportioning relief materials. Do you not think that there exists a lack of coordination between the government and NGOs in terms of distribution?

   Personally I believe NGOs have a role to play where government falls short of its capacity or infrastructure to serve people. It is very unfortunate that there is no coordination.

   If government is distributing relief and the NGO is doing the same job in the same area then there is a duplication of the task.

   The main problem with NGOs in our country is that they do not have their own resources and are borrowing or collecting resources from donors. If a donor thinks that the government is not doing its job in the right way only then should they employ NGOs to do things properly. The NGOs should inform the government about their activities so that the tasks are not duplicated and coordination is effective.

   Most of the time, NGOs do the work as long as funds flow and I do not think NGOs can provide long term solutions.

   Do you think the Disaster Management Bureau is equipped to tend to natural calamities that are intensifying every passing day?

   DMB was established in early 1990’s. During the last 20 years it has appointed many consultants for Comprehensive Disaster Management Plan and produced many excellent reports. DMB has manuals and guidelines but are yet to execute their tasks in the fashion that is expected. The DMB is not equipped enough as it does not have trained manpower and people are sent there on deputation, who seek the training, and eventually return to their primary service. 

   Bangladesh had a number of response mechanisms for the affected but are the preventive measures strong enough to face disasters like cyclone, tornado and etc?

   You cannot prevent cyclones. We are good in distributing relief materials. We have to have a fresh look into disaster management. The costal zone embankments have to be reviewed, the heights should be increased and constructed with sound engineering, the internal drainage system should be improved and the local community should be trained in the process. A strong green belt should be developed with trees and embankment has to be raised by another two metres. Cyclone centres should be installed in the coastal areas in a manner that they can also be used as home, school and other structures.

Twenty villages in Kamarkhola and Sutarkhali unions under Dakope upazila of Khulna district went under water in last two days as tidal surge overflowing Bhadra and Shibsha rivers caused breach of four embankments constructed by WAPDA.

As a result, members of over 700 families, mostly farmers, fishermen, bawalis (honey collectors), woodcutters and day labourers, of the 20 villages became homeless and hundreds of acres of land went under knee-deep water.

The embankments, earlier damaged by cyclonic storm Aila and accompanying tidal surges on May 25 last year, were not properly repaired, locals said.

The situation has added to the sufferings of the people of these 20 villages who are yet to recover from the ravages caused by Aila, said Dakope Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kazi Atiur Rahman.

Thirteen villages of Kamarkhola union went under water due to collapse of three embankments on Monday evening while seven more villages of Sutarkhali union faced the same situation as another embankment collapsed early yesterday, said the UNO.

The inundated villages are — Srinagar, Parjoynagar, Shaharabad, Jaliakhali, Bhitebhanga, Rajnagar, Rekhamari, Joynagar, Channirchawk, Kalinagar, Satgharia, Shibnagar and Fakirhdanga of Kamarkhola union are and Gunari, Katabunia, Maddhom Gunari, Kalibari, Purbo Gunari, Golbunia and Nalian of Sutarkhali union.

Dakope upazila parishad Chairman Sheikh Abul Hossain said the embankments collapsed as Water Development Board (WDB) had not taken any positive step to properly repair the breaches that developed due to the onslaught of cyclone Aila and tidal surges of May 25 last year.

WAPDA showed pretexts of fund shortage and different official formalities for not properly repairing the embankments, he said.

When asked, engineer Md Anwar Hossain of WAPDA told this correspondent yesterday that he had asked twice for necessary allocation of fund from higher authorities after submitting an official report in detail on the condition of damaged embankments.

“But we got only Tk 1 crore instead of Tk 10 crore which was asked for. As a result, no contractor wanted to work for doing repair works with this scanty amount of money although tenders were invited thrice,” he said.

The Daily Star, January 28, 2009

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday in parliament unveiled her government’s master plans to dredge 53 waterways and dying rivers to restore their navigability at a cost of over Tk 12,170 crore.

The government is also working to prepare projects worth about Tk 5,000 crore for capital dredging of the rivers, she said.

The prime minister, however, did not elaborate on the master plans.

On January 19, the water resources minister informed the House that the pilot projects include the first phase of capital dredging of the river system at Tk 1,445.51 crore, the Buriganga recovery project worth Tk 1,514.95 crore, and purchasing dredgers and ancillary equipment for dredging at a cost of Tk 1,593.68 crore.

While replying to lawmakers’ queries, the PM yesterday said removal of wastes from the Buriganga riverbed has begun and removal of wastes from the Turag will start in the second phase.

Hasina warned of taking stern actions against those who are involved in destroying the natural balance by felling trees, cutting hills, extracting sand from riverbeds and creating obstacle to rivers’ flow.

The PM said besides the activities of the ministries of water, land and shipping, from now on she would also oversee activities to prevent people from creating obstacle to the normal flow of rivers.

She said steps were taken to stop dumping of industrial wastes into rivers and formulate a policy to stop mindless extraction of sand from rivers.

Hasina informed the House that the government is also taking measures to produce fertiliser and electricity from other wastes produced in the capital.

Speaker Abdul Hamid drew Hasina’s attention to the issue of bamboo fencing in rivers. He said he had several times drawn the attention of the land minister to the matter.

“The land ministry sent a circular across the country, asking the administration to stop leasing flowing rivers. But such rivers are being leased in many places and the lessees are putting up bamboo fences for fishing,” he said.

“It is driving us towards a serious disaster. Therefore, the prime minister should take important steps to stop it,” he added.

In reply, the PM said, “Stern actions will be taken against those who will create obstacle to the flow of rivers.”

Replying to lawmakers’ queries, the premier described her government’s efforts to save the country from adverse effects of climate change and increase agricultural production through development of seeds able to adapt to drought, salinity and flood.

On Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia’s opinion that the prime minister has disgraced the country by “begging” at the Copenhagen summit, Hasina said, “I am working for the welfare of the people of the country. I talked for our people and the country at the climate change summit.

“We are trying to save our people and others who will be affected by climate change. But she [Khaleda] sees our efforts as begging. The question comes if she is aware of the consequence of climate change in our country,” said Hasina.

“We have every right to demand compensation since we are not responsible for the effects of climate change…It is not a matter of begging, it is a matter of our rights.”