A PERILOUS EXISTENCE

The idea of flying by a sea plane was very exciting. I had never been on one before. Among the pre-requisites for the flight was advance information on our body weight. ‘Eighty five’, I said very reluctantly. Any discussion on weight does not make for pleasant recollections, at least for me and about myself !

It was early morning in July 2013. A team of four which included me made our way to the Dhaka airport and at the assigned time, we were asked to proceed for boarding. Excitement mounted. Walking across the tarmac, we could see the sea plane on the far side. A tall, lanky American pilot and his young Bangladeshi co-pilot greeted us as we got into the 8-seater plane. And because we had no other passengers, it felt just like a chartered flight – a real privilege ! After a quick briefing on safety and security, we were ready for take-off. The sea plane was operated by an NGO supported by various international organisations. Given the frequency with which disasters strike Bangladesh, this was a vital and reliable link to get relief supplies to far flung areas cut off due to disasters like floods and cyclones.

After a short taxiing, the plane took off. The weather was just perfect – crisp, warm, a slight breeze and just a few light clouds. The view was amazing. As we fly over the Dhaka airspace and over the country side, the views were just gorgeously green and fresh, thanks to the rains that had lashed the country a few days earlier. The flight was meant to take about an hour. And in this little plane with the lovely views, one wanted it to extend way beyond that. We were flying to the Koyra sub-district in Khulna, in the south-western part of Bangladesh. The area had previously been hit by Cyclone Aila in 2009 and it was not the first time it had been hit by a cyclone. This area was disaster prone with floods and cyclones becoming a regular feature. Often, it led to water logging over extended periods of time. From up in the sky, our destination was clearly in sight, but what we could see was mostly water logged areas, with clumps of land which looked lush green and tiny habitations clustered densely on the patches of land. It was just water and more water everywhere. And that is why we needed to come by the sea plane, for it could land on water.

As we started our descent, the country side came in clear view. Boats ferried across the water bodies – one couldn’t say if they were rivers, streams, lakes, ponds or just water trapped because it could not go anywhere. Soon, houses were visible, tiny figures of people moving around, some cattle here, a few vehicles there. In a couple of minutes, we would touch down, on water and soon, we could see groups of people lined up along the shore. The sight of the sea plane landing would always evoke curiosity as one can imagine. Eager children and adults, all lined up just to watch the landing. With a huge swishing sound and a lusty spray of water, the sea plane docked itself on the water, like a boat, rocking gently with the waves caused due to its landing. And soon, we saw a motor boat come towards it to ferry us to the nearest village, a ride of about 200 meters.

Landing in such an exceptional way and in a geography that one had only heard of, itself, gave us an insight of what life might be. It was a dry day, but it had rained earlier. Everywhere, there was water – large water bodies. The habitations were perilously close to the water. One could see that a moderate rainfall was enough to cause flooding.

“So what is it like to live here, and how did you face the cyclone when it hit”, we asked a group of women. They pointed out to a temple which was built on a high platform, and to a toilet that too was on a raised platform. “Those were the only two structures that were not flooded. All the other structures, and this house where you are sitting, were completely flooded. We could just see roof tops in most cases, and the trees. Everything was under water”, one of the women said.

“We lost a lot of cattle, cows and goats. Some chicken perished. Some of our children were washed away in the tidal waves that gushed in. We didn’t have much time, much of a warning and even if we did, there was very little we could do to save ourselves”, said another. The memories of that fateful day, four years ago, were still fresh in their minds.

“It was night. I was sleeping on the cot. When I woke up in the morning, I felt my hair. It was wet. I wondered if water had leaked through the roof. That is quite common during the rains. When I looked around me, I was aghast and sprung out of my bed with a start. The whole room was flooded. And I had stepped into 3 feet of water. My first thought was – where are my children. Fortunately, they were safe on another cot. I woke them up and my husband too and we rushed out of the house with them in knee deep water. But when we came out, what we saw was absolutely frightening. The entire village was under water and like us, people had just woken up to this horror and trying to find out what they had lost and what they could salvage”, another woman said.

“You people live in the developed countries. Why don’t you tell your governments that they must do something ? We are told that all this because of climate change and that climate change is because the developed countries have caused the environment to change. We never experienced disasters so frequently in the past, but this is now a regular occurrence. Your governments must do something about it and must compensate”, another lady said. Not with anger, but with conviction.

There was more for us to see. The tidal waves had made their fresh water sources totally undrinkable. The water had turned saline. That affected some fish varieties that thrived in fresh water. Fortunately, a local NGO and WaterAid had worked together to make the water fit for human consumption.

The waters that surged inland caused immense devastation for over a year, before much of it receded. But it left behind a trail of destruction - to their agriculture and livelihoods. To make matters worse, many businessmen from the nearby city of Khulna moved in to convert some of the arable land into shrimp farms, which further polluted the waters and rendered the land unfit for cultivation.

With their livelihoods threatened or destroyed, many of them moved to cities like Khulna. We met some of them settled in an informal settlement, a slum, with no basic services. Living in a city which tended to be more alien and hostile was hard in itself, but to make a living in a city was even more difficult. They had to find work in a range of unskilled, low paid physical labour to keep them going.

But as in the case of many such communities around the world, they discovered their resilience and are trying to cope. They have formed disaster management committees at the local levels, which can interact with the local authorities at the district level, to be better warned and better prepared. They are trying to adapt construction of their houses, toilets and water points in a manner that can withstand normal flooding. They are trying to identify technologies that can be effective in the face of such disasters. There is a lot more that needs to be done, but one thing was sure – they were not just sitting back and waiting for help. They had decided to take control and identify solutions !