Fifty thousand people of Pratapnagar and Sriula unions of Ashashuni upazila, Satkhira, are surrounded by water after the Water Development Board’s embankments along the Kholpetua and Kopotakkho rivers broke in 19 places.
The tidal surge caused by the cyclone Amphan has washed away 20,000 shrimp hatcheries and ponds there and wiped out the livelihoods of the people.
Union parishad chairman of Pratapnagar, Zakir Hossain, said there are 36,000 people in this union. The union is surrounded by a 40 km embankment of the Water Development Board. The embankment broke in 13 different places including four places in Kurikaunia, one is Chakla and three in Harishkhali, inundating the areas with water.
Saline water has flooded 13 villages of the union, including Chakla, Ruier Bil, Shubhdrakathi, Sripur, Kurikaunia, Pratapnagar, Madaribari, Kalyanpur, Sanatankati, Hijlekola and Harishkhali.
And around 7000 people of these villages are now trapped by water. Many are homeless, staying at the shelters or on the high roads. Also, 8000 shrimp hatcheries have been washed away. The people’s lives in this union have been swept into tides of uncertainly.
Coronavirus snatched away our income and now the cyclone has destroyed everything. It’s fine that we can’t celebrate Eid this time, we will do so next Eid. Rather than relief, we want them to repair the embankment properly. The embankment is damaged every year, this can’t be tolerated. Our lives are at the mercy of the tides.”Kasem Moral, 80-year-old former UP member, Kurikaunia village
The UP chairman complained that the Water Development Board merely provided a few thousand plastic bags and that was it. They did not bother to provide rope, food for the volunteer workers and other requirements for the embankment.
Eighty-year-old former UP member of Kurikaunia village, Kasem Moral, said, “Coronavirus snatched away our source of income and now the cyclone has destroyed everything. It’s fine that we can’t celebrate Eid this time, we will do so next Eid. Rather than relief, we want them to repair the embankment properly. The embankment is damaged every year, this can’t be tolerated. Our lives are at the mercy of the tides.”
Amphan has destroyed Kasem Moral’s home, his trees and 100 sacks of paddy. He has lost almost everything in a matter of a day.
Abdul Kasem Sardar of the village Sripur said water had entered his house. He has spent Tk 500,000 on a 15 bigha shrimp farm and had hoped to sell the shrimps for Tk 1.2 million to Tk 1.5 million, but Amphan has wiped that all out.
In Ashashuni upazila, the Sriula UP chairman Abu Hena Shakil said their union was surrounded in three sides by the river. The Water Development Board had built a 30 km embankment around the union where 35,000 people live. The embankment broke in 6 places during the cyclone, flooding 21 villages and trapping 22,000 people in water.
Kamal Hossain of the village Kalimakhali had a 150 bigha shrimp farm and Abdul Mannan of the same village had a 200 bigha shrimp farm. They had spent over Tk 10 million of their hatcheries, borrowing from money lenders and banks. They had big dreams, but their dreams have been washed away along with their shrimps by the cyclone Amphan.
Satkhira Water Development Board deputy divisional engineer Nahidul Islam said, the higher authorities have been informed about the situation. On Saturday the secretary of the water resources ministry, Kabir Bin Anwar, and the secretary of the public administration ministry, Shaikh Yusuf Harun, inspected the embankment.
The army has been asked for assistance in repairing the major damages to the embankment. Efforts are being made to have the minor damages repaired by volunteers under the supervision of the UP chairmen. Already 15,000 plastic bags have been provided to tackle the erosion at Pratapnagar, the deputy divisional engineer said.
Deputy commissioner of Satkhira, SM Mustafa Kamal, said the army had been approached for assistance in repairing the embankments. They will begin work in the badly damaged areas within a couple of days.