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How a river turns people into refugees

By Naimul Haq : All photos by A K M Mohsin
MUNSHIGANJ. Oct 3: What do Rohingyas in Teknpi Biharis in Mohammadpur's Geneva Camp, and the new squatters in Baro Naupara in Lohajang have in common? They are'all refugees. But unlike those Ifi Teknaf. and Mohammadpur the squatters ■ in'Lohajang have no recognition as refugees.
They are the victims Of tc-rocious-erosion of the angry Padma. Even worse, they have no place to live in. Atleast the Biharis and the Rohingyas have some place to live in.
Kartik Mandal. 55. lives in a half-built temporary shelter at Naupara along with his Wife and two sons. He lost his last piece of land in the Padma erosion, last year. He. along with 736 other families, moved to Naupara in 1992. Many of the local people objected to their settlement there. "No one wants us. We have no place to live in. Where do we go?" asks Mandal from Bhozgaon.
Shehr Banu. 49. also a victim of Padma erosion, has lost everything. She now breaks bricks earning Tk 40 a day on an average to buy bread for her four young sons and her sick husband. This is Increasingly becoming a burden for me. I cannot bear this pain any more." says Banu who once lived a happy life." I had a milch cow and a small piece of land to plough. 1 needed no more, but Padma one day. put an epd to all my dreams, ex plained Banu
As every year, erosion *n Dighlrbari.' Bangla Baza: -1 '. Hash.ill unions of the d«u has.« xux'l nuunis -ufi- ri ng'
Dighall Bazar, the main business centre of the district, ne.v year. Trans 'ons worth crores of taka lake place here every week through mainly, kasha and thaan clothes trade. More than 12.00 shops have been dislocated In the bazar since the start of the severe erosion three years ago.
About 1500 shops and scores of houses including mosques and madrashas were
Abdul Zabbar Talukdar, 56. a fellow businessman, lost three of his valuable shops each costing Tk 3.65 lakh. Only a month ago he lost the last shop he possessed at Naupara market.
AbduJ Rab. 35. from Bhola district also lost the only piece of land he owned in the river erosion last year. Rab. a bus conductor, says, about 100 metric tons of rice has so far been disfriWnttl miotic the
Hai. fin established bitsm.'--man The change is ahead, visible. Most of them hit turned destitutes and have started begging, manv ha.-started stealing or even iota milting dacoities It wasn ■ lixr this a few years ago This a: pact on the society is m.v serious than that of the roer bank erosion . he added Wi ho|x- for a permanent sohif.oi, to this problem . said SV Mamun, Parvez another bust nessman. A 51 member < oh; mlttee was formed recentiv to agitate lor implementation wr -i project to .heck ” -I ■ --ton in 'li. 1 ~" u ' 1
to thousands bl common people who lost 1 hen f>om< -leads worth crores ol taka. Erosion during the last three years has devoured hundreds of acres of land throwing thousands
Lohajang. a well-known business centre since the British days fell prey to the Padma s cruelly. "We may not se. the rrni.tmmg part <4 the
engulled. The Lohajang Hospital, the police station, the historical Gandlrmath. Banari High School. Hashail Bazar. MunsbiganJ-Muktarpur road and many other structures have been devoured causing loss of property worth Tk 130 crore, according to unoffi-< tai sources. The very existence of the telephone exchange at Naupara and what ever remains of Dighall Bazar area under threat this year.
Abdul Latif Mojlah. 41. owner of a small tea stall, lost all his six rice and furniture shops. All this happened last year This year too. he lost about 240 decimals of land. Mollah. father of three daugh ters and two sons, now runs a small restaurant selling tea and snacks. “1 cannot afford any more to buy toys for my kids', says Mollah who once earned uood profits Mat now hardly makes Tk 75 a day. "Was this the destiny" he asks himself "Mv life has been ruined. I have nothing left". says Mollah. a bundle of despair
The worst affected is the 20 kilometre length of river bank from Mawa In the west to Hashail in the east. Erosion starts from mid-June and con Unties until mid-October as is the case with many other rivers in the country The severity In MunshtgHni 1- not
however, that high compared to the erosion In SiraJganJ. Chand pur. KishoreganJ and Tangall. In terms of commer rial Importance MunshiganJ would perhaps, stand third, after SiraJganJ and KishoreganJ
According .to a study con-' ducted by two foreign and one local engineering firms In March 1990. erosion In MunshiganJ occurs at both banks due to wave attack during high river surges and npt due to the banks collapsing in 10 the deep scouring river channels The study reports found that there Is a foreshore In front of the river bank The experts suggested that to pre vent further erosion the growth of scour in the fore shore should be stopped Based on an overall revetment three alternative solutions
were proposed The first was designed by the Bangladesh Water Development Board. The olIter two proposed protecting of foreshore at existing bank line and reconstructing em-
bankment. Finally, a eombtna firm of the two sets of design-was selected which said ilt.n by means of cut and fill a suitable slope can be created on which a permanent embank ment could be constructed. Ils total fcost would be around Tk 30 crore. The cost compared to the overall economic losses was peanut. The government lias, however, no approved project for implementation It has done.very little to protect MunshiganJ from erosion ac ■ ordlng to a number of local elites.
Shanto Maran 40. a bust neaaman by profession moved his business sites sevrsi times to escape erosion. The present location of bls rice wlKiiesalc
shop, only 200 yard from the river bank, doesn't look very sale "Business la very dull. I never faced this kind of situation liefore'' mid Maran.
settlers In Naupara as relit 1 "Hut what shall we do with the grains. it's only temporary and helps only a few of us. We wain .1 permanent solution to tin-problem- The loss is enormous. No one seems to be I withering atmut it".
"The rote played by the lo tai Member ol Parliament Wing Commander (Re' 31 Hameedulah Khan so far has been virtually zero. There have lieen many ministers from this district. They too have done precious little to save us". al leged a number* of people Motahar All. 46. said. TUI now all we have received are a few truck-loads of boulders per haps for use as decoration pieces".
The settlement of the squatters has created another problem. It has changed the sot i" cbtuHtittiv condition of ih. -nd Md Vwhil
"li seem- since nature Jias ma-', is refugees at our own hi ae we have to seek Gods In m?n men v to save us from His wr ।th To look lot help the government has so far proved Imtle said one who was once a rich trader and now turiied •