Photo : Collected
The situation is so grave in southwest coastal Bangladesh due to double crisis of less water flow in the regional rivers and seawater inclusion in upstream, that the local residents are haunted by the possiblity of the area turning into a desert soon .
Salinity is increasing rapidly in the coastal areas.
Slowly after 10 years of the crisis, the impacts of salinity is now visible here as plants are dying in coastal Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat districts and gradually turning into a desert.
According to “Nature Briefing”, climate change is not only altering weather patterns but also accelerating sea-level rise, leading to increased inundation and saline contamination of soils.Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Sidr was a tropical cyclone that caused one of the worst natural disasters in Bangladesh.
On top of that, plastic waste is tuirning the situation critical.
According to a recent survey conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said 73 percent of people are drinking unsafe saline water in five Upazilas of Khulna's Koira, Dakop, Paikgacha and Satkhira's Asashuni and Shyamnagar.In every litter of drinking water, salinity presence is about 1 thousand 430 milligram. If salinity is more than 1000 milligrams per liter, it is considered unsafe for human consumption.
According to this survey, local community depend on 52 percent of the ponds and tube wells for drinking water, where salinity is higher than normal.
Zakir Hossain Khan, chief executive of Change Initiative, a non-governmental organization working in the coastal area for several years, said that the lack of fresh water is causing major changes in the local biodiversity and food chain. Residents of coastal areas in the southwest are suffering from many disease due to salinity. Here most of women are facing problems especially with pregnancy and menstrual cycle. Infertility rate is increasing day by day.
The chief executive of the Change Initiative blames man-made causes rather than natural causes for increasing salinity in the South-West. He said that saline water is being injected into the coastal cropland for shrimp farming. In this way salinity rate is increasing several times. Besides, due to the weak coastal embankment, local areas are occasionally flooded by high tides or storm surges. As a result, plants and vegetation are dying, Crop lands become saline. Local freshwater source like ponds, canals and marshlands are also becoming contaminated with saline water.
He also blamed the dying of regional main rivers like Kabodak, Bhairav, Betna, etc, as one of the main reason for increasing salinity in South-western area. Mr Zakir said that more than 10 rivers in this area have died in the last 40 years due to lack of water from the upstream Padma river during the dry season.
Lately, the coastal areas are also being polluted with plastic waste. Jahangirnagar University assistant professor Rezaul Rakib said that local biodiversity is being damaged due to plastic. Aquatic animals and plants are being extinct.
Meanwhile, Koira Upazila Public Health Assistant Engineer Ishtiaq Ahmed said that as it is located beside the Mangrove forest Sundarbans, half of the people in this region drink water from the pond. Being a saline area there is a shortage of drinking water as the pond water decreases during summer.
On the other hand, Khulna Deputy Commissioner Khandkar Yashir Arefin said that the government has taken up various projects for water conservation including the distribution of polymer tanks for rainwater harvesting along with the renovation of government ponds to meet the drinking water crisis of the people of the southwest coast.
To prevent salinization in the coastal areas, experts suggest the increase of freshwater reservoirs, building sustainable embankments and ban on infiltration of saline water into cropland. To get the benefits of salinity prevention, Experts also suggested involvement of local community as the role player and leadership.
টিডিএম/আরএইচ
