Humanity losing battle against nature in Dakope

Life is extremely precarious for the residents of Sutarkhali, Tildanga, Banishanta, Bajua, Laudob, Kamarkhola, and Dakope unions – living on the edge of the rivers Shibsa, Pasur, Dhaki, Bhadra, Chunkuri in Khulna.

Strong fears of unrest and eviction are always breathing down their neck. Without warning, tidal floods can rise and surge over the place they call home, leaving devastation in their wake.

It is a small zone of calm amid chaos, ferocious rains and wanton destruction. Here people follow the whims of the weather like one would not believe. Figuring out how to get to safety if a storm is coming is always on their mind.

Sixty-one-year-old Chhayra Begum from Dakope lives next to the River Chunkuri. The husbandless Chhayra lives in a nipa palm-thatched house – partly swallowed by the river – and does not have a private toilet. She has to go to her neighbour’s house or to the riverside to answer the call of nature.

The sexagenarian uses a bamboo bridge to return home. She catches fish from the river with hooks to eke out a living. Chhayra earns Tk80 to Tk100 from selling the catch of the day in the Dakope Bazaar which is barely enough to get by. She has to walk one mile every day to fetch drinking water from the filter set up next to the pond of Sadar upazila.

Chhayra draws water from the river for cooking and uses alum as a purifier. Tidal waters threaten to intrude into her living room. Heavy rains threaten to submerge her place more immediately. Chhayra knows where she is standing right now could flood anytime.

She always lives with the fear of a massive storm that lingers. If there is a cyclone, the 61-year-old rushes to the shelter centre of Sadar upazila with her bag and baggage.

This is how thousands of people like Chhayra are living with the ebb and flow of the rivers across the coastal belts.

Climate change puts the inhabitants of these areas without access to safe toilets and drinking water facilities. It is estimated that two-thirds of Bangladesh is less than five metres above sea level, and around 28 per cent of the population lives in the coastal areas.

The coastal population faces the stern browbeating of rising sea levels, saline intrusion and arsenic contamination in groundwater, which leads to scarcity of safe and affordable drinking water. People of this salinity-hit area rely on rivers for drinking, cooking, and cleaning.

They often have no choice but to drink saline water. Water options often require round trips of more than 30 minutes. This condition makes things harder for women and adolescent girls, who are typically tasked with the transport, storage and use of water.

Also, for the people of Dakope, a climate-induced natural disaster is a big challenge for maintaining proper hygiene. During Cyclone Aila in 2009, almost all the freshwater sources in the southwest were destroyed. The embankments were eroded, and groundwater sources flooded.