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Still a wasteland

5 years after Cyclone Aila, lack of govt initiative to address soil salinity, crises of drinking water, unemployment in Gabura, Satkhira

PINAKI ROY back from Gabura
Five years have elapsed since they lost their houses and means of living to cyclone Aila, but the government has not done enough to help them overcome the impact.
The entire 33 square mile area of Gabura union under Shyamnagar in Satkhira is now almost devoid of vegetation except for some coconut, date and palm trees. Many of the 38,000 people living in it do not have work, homes and supply of drinking water.
More than 100 families have continued to live on the embankment that collapsed in some parts during the hurricane on May 25, 2009, causing saline water to swamp all the
15 villages in the union.
Aila washed away a huge number of houses, livestock, crops and other resources from the villages surrounded by the Kobadak and Kholpetua rivers.
Those who have shrimp farms said they could not regenerate them due to virus attacks.
Asked how they used to fight the virus problem before the disaster, they said they had often changed the water of the shrimp enclosures to prevent the spread of virus-related diseases but the authority stopped allowing them to cut any narrow passage through the embankment to let water flow after rebuilding it.
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Without a few pockets, the villages are not cultivable now due to salinity.
Only two villages have deep tubewells for drinking water. People of other villages have to drink refined pond or canal water or have to collect water from far away, as they did not get fresh water even after digging to 800 feet, said the Gabura union parishad chairman.
The main problem is that crops and trees do not grow in the area, said the chairman, Masudul Alam, adding that the place looked like a desert.
"There is no good road for vehicles to ply. The water development board has repaired the embankment but it [rebuilt with only earth) may collapse anytime," he added.
Thousands of people had to live on the embankment for over two years until it was repaired. By the time, the soil, the surface water and even the ground water turned saline.
The majority of them have rebuilt their houses with the help of the government and non-government organisations.
A few hundred families from Lebubunia and Jaulakhali, however, are still living on the embankment as their houses either were eroded or could not be saved by being kept inside the embankment during the repair work.
Sirajul Gazi, from Lebubunia, who had a house on a two bighas of land, is now living on the embankment.
"It seems my whole life will be spent here. My son got married and began his new life on the embankment and my grandson has been born and is
growing up here. I am not sure what is in their fate."
Sirajul told this correspondent to look at the two sides of the embankment. The water level of the river is higher than the land inside the embankment, he pointed out.
The embankment was rebuilt, excluding his house as it was too close to the Kobadak river bank.
Sirajul's son Amirul went to Gopalganj to work as a labourer in the paddy filed as there is no livelihood in Gabura other than fishing or catching shrimps in the river.
Even those who were somewhat well off and returned to their homes are not doing well.
Rashida Begum, from Chawk Bera, mother of Abul Bashar, a teacher of Gabura High School, said her family lived in better economic conditions with a shrimp farm and a good house.
The family tried to regain shrimp production but failed due to a virus attack, she said.
"Now seven members of our family are entirely dependent on my son, Abul Bashar, as there is no other means of income."
The soil has become so saline that we are not able to cultivate vegetables, Rashida added.
People will not be able to live in Gabura for long, said noted climate expert Prof Ainun Nishat, vice-chancellor of Brae University, adding that they would have to leave the place soon as it would become unlivable.
Except for working on the government's road building project, fishing in
the Kholpetua or Kobadak rivers or catching shrimp fries, there is no other livelihood for the Gabura people, unless they go to the Sundarbans for logging or killing deer, local people said.
Halim, a local journalist, said hunters with venison had been captured twice in the last one month. Besides, people often enter the forest for logging.
The lack of opportunities to earn a living is mounting pressure on the Sundarbans, said Zahir Uddin, divisional forest officer, Sundarbans (West) division.
Under a project, the forest department has been giving money to some 45,000 out of six lakh local forest dwellers in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira to open poultry farms and grocery shops, begin fish culture and goat rearing or to buy sewing machines.
"For Aila-damaged areas like Gabura, the government should intervene in a bigger way," Zahir said.
Tabibur Rahman, Shyamnagar upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), however, rejected the perception that there was a lack of income sources in the area. People of Gabura can earn a living through shrimp cultivation, honey collection and fishing, he added.
Apart from the government's Vulnerable Group Feeding project and pensions for widows and elderly people, the government has arranged food for workforaround 1,000 people of Gabura.
U nder the scheme, there are jobs for 40 daysatatime, twiceayear, forTk200aday.
Besides, people receive huge quantities of relief materials from NGOs and so do not have much of a problem, the UNO said.