Kazi Amdadul Hoque has twenty two years of experience in the field of Disaster Management-Climate Change Adaptation, Community based Food Security (implementation and advocacy), Infrastructure Development for resilience, Public Health and Education in Emergency, Good Governance, HIV and AIDS within Bangladesh. He has a Masters in Social Sciences form Dhaka University, Bangladesh. He currently works as the Head of Education, Disaster Management and Infrastructure Development at Friendship Bangladesh.
Salinity intrusion due to a reduction of freshwater flow from upstream areas, salinization of groundwater and fluctuation of soil salinity are the major concerns of the coastal areas of the country. What can you tell us about these occurrences?
The south and west coastal regions of Bangladesh have been experiencing an acute shortage of safe drinking water and an increase in salinity intrusion on the surface and groundwater over the past few years. Due to their geographical disadvantage, this southwestern region is commonly subjected to floods, river erosions, and tidal surges but most importantly cyclones and storm surges. It has been estimated that Bangladesh is on the receiving end of about two-fifths of the world’s total impact from storm surges. In order to understand this dynamic, a bit of background information regarding the reality behind the penetration of saline water is required. The phenomenon of recurvature of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal is the single most cause of the disproportional large impact of storm surges on the Bangladesh coast. Records indicate that the greatest damage during cyclones has resulted from the inundation caused by cyclone-induced storm surges. Storm-surge heights of 10 meters or more have not been uncommon, where the height above mean sea level of the coastal zone is less than 3 meters. Frequent storms have brought much saline water inland and ruined the rice fields that people depend on for employment and food, and surface water. Traditional ponds or surface water bodies become inundated with seawater making these unsuitable for any form of human use.
Cyclone Aila has caused a great deal of damage to the Satkhira district. Could you elaborate on the situation in that area?
The people in Satkhira received the highest degree of drinking water shortage following Aila. The cyclone devastated all the drinking water sources (ponds and tube wells). During the disaster, high tidal surges contaminated all fresh water sources with polluted saline water. The fresh water crisis had intensified after cyclone Aila hit in 2009 when the polders in the coast were damaged and the region was submerged by saline water. The district of Khulna and Satkhira were also the worst affected areas in terms of Water Sanitation facilities where 278 Pond Sand Filters (PSF) were damaged. The situation was acute in Shyamnagar, Satkhira district where most of the drinking water sources were damaged. Many people were forced to drink such polluted water since they did not have any other option and consequently suffered from waterborne diseases such as allergy, skin diseases, cholera, and diarrhea. According to the population and housing census of 2011, more than 60% of the households of Shatkhira District do not have water source inside the dwelling. They cannot ensure the security of water sources at times of disaster. Furthermore, 80% of the households depended on tube well for drinking water. This water is often affected by salinity and arsenic.
You have taken on the task of providing pure water for the people in these remote areas. What are the challenges you are facing to doing this task?
Recently, certain alternatives to collect safe drinking water were initiated by NGOs and government agencies. Nevertheless, the solutions to mitigate salinity problems, treatment and prevention of saline water intrusion are not sustainable. In addition, the demand of local communities for safe drinking water surpasses the number of freshwater points in the region causing immense water crisis. Lack of access to potable water poses a threat to public health and security particularly to that of women and young girls. At present, coastal populations are mostly dependent on natural sources such as rainwater and pond water for drinking purposes. There are few tube-wells in the pockets of deep aquifer, which are hard to reach in most cases. Finding no alternative, many also use bacteriological unsafe surface water. Currently, ponds with pond sand filter and rainwater harvesting at households and community level are the only major sources of safe drinking water.
What were the findings that you have discovered from your study with Friendship?
I have conducted a study on behalf of Friendship about water health in various schools of Shyamnagar Upozila’s Aturia Union. It has been observed that only 27% of the schools reported having drinkable water at their disposal. Additionally, 39% of the schools had seen students having these difficulties with stomach problems, diarrhea etc. The slow rate of change in this area means that students are suffering because of the lack of healthy water supply. This is increasing absenteeism, which is leading to disruption in education and quality of life. We need to find a solution immediately to save our future generation.
In the endeavor to provide clean drinking water, what is your future plan?
The Friendship (NGO) has installed 5 water treatment plants in Shyamnagar and one in Chalna with river osmosis technologies. The equipment supplies and technical assistance were taken from the AK Khan Water Health (AKKWH). The benefits from this effort were found to be quite significant; the citizens taking water from plants are active in water management and reduced the disease burden. This plant is connected with two other services; these are the satellite clinics and the capacity building for the preparedness of Disaster Risk reduction. Because, we realized standalone water projects are difficult to sustain if it’s not a part of package program. The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and some private initiatives are also trying to address this crisis. Friendship has an understanding with AKKWH with the aim to install more plants in the future and thus we are exploring more opportunities. In my opinion, the best option is the public and private partnership for water in southern part of the country with a community management mechanism to reduce the water crisis.
