Climate change makes life a struggle in Bangladesh

Cyclones have irrevocably impacted lives on the country’s south-west coast.

Soil and water salinity have increased in recent years in Sana Bari area of Pratapnagar Union. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Sawkat Ali, 72, lives along the Shakbaria river at Matiavhanga village in Koyra upazila of Khulna district in the Sundarbans delta on the southwest coast of Bangladesh. He had been a paddy farmer all his life like many others of his clan and there was little to complain about in life. But all that changed in 2009 as Cyclone Aila left a trail of destruction, breached embankments and left the entire region submerged in salt water. It ended the rice cultivation in the area and paddy fields were converted into shrimp farms. “The green of our village was lost due to Cyclone Aila,” Ali said. “It was not possible to cultivate rice due to salinity and people were forced to start shrimp farming in paddy fields... We are now residents of salt land.”

Sreepur village of Asashuni Upazila was badly damaged during Cyclone Amphan. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Anwar Hussain’s riverside home was washed away in strong tides in the Howladar Bari area of Pratapnagar Union, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

He can no longer associate the place with what it was 20 to 30 years ago. At that time, agricultural labourers from across the country used to work there to harvest paddy, and many would stay on until the end of the harvest. The fields are no longer that busy and many shrimp farms have come up. The story is the same in Gharilal, Charamukha and Antihara villages as this writer found out on a visit to the region in the first week of February. The fields were barren and the labourers, left with no choice, travel elsewhere to earn a living. Mostly, they find work in the Sundarbans across the Shakbaria river but incomes are meagre.

An embankment that was damaged during Cyclone Amphan in Sreepur village of Asashuni Upazila, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Commuting to school is a challenge in Kurikahunia village of Pratapnagar Union. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

A large amount of paddy used to be produced in the area near the Sundarbans and had shaped the lives of people in the area. However, frequent natural disasters have changed everything, displacing families and forcing people to seek employment elsewhere. Indeed, life is now a daily struggle for the people in Bangladesh’s southwestern region. Out of 1,000 people in this area, 700 have left to pursue employment elsewhere.

Cyclones continue to threaten homes and lives in Hajatkhali village of North Bedkashi Union, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

The situation is no different in several other upazilas: Shyamnagar and Asashuni upazilas of Satkhira district near the Bangladesh-India border or Dakop and Paikgacha upazilas of Khulna district. The numbers of the displaced from these areas keep on growing with disaster after disaster and the challenges for the people are many: health issues, education, and, most importantly, the availability of fresh water, besides of course the lack of housing and employment.

Border crossings increase

“I have been defeated many times with natural disasters,” said Farooq Hossain, who has faced many disasters since his childhood. “I was forced to cross over to India after Cyclone Aila to make a living. After returning home, I lost everything in Cyclone Amphan in 2020.”

Homes have become uninhabitable in Hajatkhali village of North Bedkashi Union. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Deep tube wells are damaged due to frequent storms and that has caused a fresh water crisis in places like Napitkhali village of Gabura Union in Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Hossain has a house at Kurikahunia village of Asashuni upazila in Satkhira district. He built it on his return from India where he lived in a slum with his family and barely made ends meet doing odd jobs. When problems arose after a few years, he moved back to Bangladesh and built a house in Kurikahunia with his savings. However, he lost all his possessions to Cyclone Ampan and Cyclone Yaas (2021) and life is back to square one for him and his family.

Scarcity of fresh water has increased and people are forced to walk long distances to collect water, like this woman in the Fakirbari area of Pratapnagar Union, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

It is very difficult to make a living in places like Hajatkhali village of Koyra Upazila, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

This is also the story of most of the low-income families of the region buffeted by one crisis after another, and many of them travel to India illegally for seasonal work. The families said there were a lot of earning opportunities in India. Official data from seven union councils of Khulna district’s Koyra upazila showed that 16,000 families had left the upazila in the past 10 years.

Paddy and shrimp in crisis

Speaking to this writer, Vijay Krishna Sarkar, 74, a resident of Ghatirgheri village in Koyra upazila, said he had been cultivating paddy all his life. “Paddy production in the land was very good. After Cyclone Aila, the situation changed rapidly. As salinity increased, we started shrimp farming. But with the frequent cyclones, that too has multiple problems. Now, it is becoming difficult to survive in our area.”

Cyclone Amphan created an island when it separated Fakirkona from Kalabagi village. Nasima Begum takes people there in a boat on Shibsa river near Kalabagi village in Dakop Upazila, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Women from places like Gatirgheri village of Koyra Upazila are forced to work in the Sundarbans to earn a living. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Angtihara, Charamukha, Gharilal and other nearby villages face similar challenges. Rozwanul Karim of Angtihara village used to do farming until recently when he switched to selling furniture in the Gharilal market area.

According to the Union Councils of Koyra uazila, land in most of the areas in the upazila has turned saline and only about 1,300 hectares of agricultural land remains cultivable. About 400 hectares has been lost to river erosion. The shrimp business too has suffered due to high salinity in the water and soil.

People have learnt to adapt to new forms of livelihood in Gatirgheri village of Koyra Upazila, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Koyra upazila Fisheries Officer Aminul Haque said, “Every year, the salinity of the river water is increasing. A salt level of up to 5 to 6 ppt (parts per thousand) is acceptable. But during summer, it increases up to 25 to 30 ppt. Due to this, shrimp farming has been a disaster. Besides, the embankment collapsed under the pressure of the tide and the shrimp were washed away.”

Arshed Ali of Fakirbari area in Pratapnagar Union is worried about his future after several natural disasters. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

A village submerged during high tide in the Fakirbari area of Pratapnagar Union, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Abdus Samad, a farmer at Kurikahunia village, has been unable to cultivate paddy following Cyclone Amphan. The storm left the area under salt water for more than 10 months, where nothing would grow.

Cyclone Yaas made a severe impact on several villages like Ghatirgheri of Koyra Upazila. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Pratapnagar Union Council Chairman Abu Dawood Dhali said, “After Cyclone Amphan, the agricultural land of the entire union was submerged in salt water. Farmers have tried to cultivate paddy but to no avail. The embankment of the area is weak and salt water enters under tidal pressure. A strong embankment is needed to prevent salt water ingress.”

Women’s struggles

Nasima Begum, 32, lives with her three children on a small island named Fakirkona near the Sundarbans. Fakirkona is located in Dakop upazila’s Sutarkhali Union in Khulna District and was once part of Kalabagi village in that union. In the wake of Cyclone Amphan, it turned into an island in 2020. Sutarkhali and its surroundings were under salt water for about five years after Cyclone Aila. Many families like Nasima’s suffered severe losses but they could not leave the area. The Shibsa river and the Sundarbans are the only means of livelihood for these families.

Daily life is particularly harsh for women in the Howladar Bari area of Pratapnagar Union, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

After Fakirkona became an island, Nasima’s struggles mounted. She had to cross the turbulent Shibsa at great risk to her life to reach the mainland. Her husband Sagar Sardar works outside the area most of the time to provide for the family. So, Nasima was left to handle all the family duties. About 100 other families that live on Fakirkona face similar issues.

Sufia Begum’s life in Sreepur village of Asashuni Upazila has been a struggle after Cyclone Amphan. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Nasima Begum’s home on Fakirkona island in Dakop Upazila near the Sundarbans. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

Yasin Hossain and Saddam Hossain of Nalian village in this upazila moved to Khulna city to find work after Cyclone Aila. Rakesh Mistry and Harshid Mondal of Kacharipara village, Shankar Sardar of Gunari village, and Ashafur Rahman of Nalian village migrated to India.

Frequent natural disasters

Cyclones have severely impacted Bangladesh over the years: Cyclone Sidr in 2007, Aila in 2009, Fani and Bulbul in 2019, Amphan in 2020, and Yaas in 2021.

At least 1,053 people have been killed and 9.4 million internally displaced by various climate-related disasters in 58 districts of Bangladesh in the past seven years. Start Fund Bangladesh (SFB), a civil society-led network of 45 NGOs working in the country since 2017, conducted a study and analysed data on major natural disasters from 2014 to 2020. It estimated the economic loss from natural disasters—monsoon floods, flash floods, river bursts, cyclones, storm surges, and landslides—at $4,120 million. The Ministry of Disaster Management assisted SFB in the study.

There is a shortage of cooking fuel in many areas and women are forced to gather whatever they can. This is a photo from Kalabagi village in Sutarkhali Union, Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Rafiqul Islam Montu

The “Global Report on Internal Displacement 2021” from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (a Switzerland-based NGO) showed that 44,43,230 people were displaced in Bangladesh in 2020. Almost all of them became refugees due to natural disasters.

The effects of climate change in the coming years will only see this number go up. The World Bank’s Groundswell report said that more than 210 million people around the world could be displaced by 2050 due to the effects of climate change. Among them, more than 40 million will be in the South Asia region;19.9 million in Bangladesh alone.

The signs are ominous too. In May-June 2022, Bangladesh witnessed heavy rains and flash floods in its northeastern region, the worst in 122 years. It left most of northeastern Bangladesh under water, affecting more than seven million residents and displacing nearly 500,000 from their homes.

Rafiqul Islam Montu is an award-winning Bangladeshi independent investigative journalist based in Dhaka, who writes on climate, environment, science, coasts, disasters, humanitarian and indigenous issues.

The Crux

• The lives of paddy farmers on the southwest coast of Bangladesh were changed forever in 2009 as Cyclone Aila left a trail of destruction, breached embankments and left the entire region submerged in salt water.
• Life is a daily struggle for the people in Bangladesh’s southwestern region. Out of 1,000 people in the area near the Sundarbans , 700 have left to pursue employment elsewhere.
• The numbers of the displaced from various areas—Shyamnagar and Asashuni upazilas of Satkhira district near the Bangladesh-India border or Dakop and Paikgacha upazilas of Khulna district—keep on growing with disaster after disaster and the challenges for the people are many: health issues, education, and, most importantly, the availability of fresh water, besides of course the lack of housing and employment.
• “I have been defeated many times with natural disasters,” said Farooq Hossain, who has faced many disasters since his childhood. “I was forced to cross over to India after Cyclone Aila to make a living. After returning home, I lost everything in Cyclone Amphan in 2020.”
• According to the Union Councils of Koyra uazila, land in most of the areas in the upazila has turned saline and only about 1,300 hectares of agricultural land remains cultivable. About 400 hectares has been lost to river erosion. The shrimp business too has suffered due to high salinity in the water and soil.
• At least 1,053 people have been killed and 9.4 million internally displaced by various climate-related disasters in 58 districts of Bangladesh in the past seven years.
• The “Global Report on Internal Displacement 2021” from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (a Switzerland-based NGO) showed that 44,43,230 people were displaced in Bangladesh in 2020. The effects of climate change in the coming years will only see this number go up.