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| Photo: Shamsul Haque Suza from RDRS |
“I have always lived here. I was born on these char islands, but back then they were part of the mainland. Over the years, the river has changed its course and the constant erosion separated them from the mainland and split them up into smaller islands. It has happened so many times that I have lost count now,” says Kulsum Bibi.
She was very young when she got married, but soon after her son was born her husband passed away. Now she lives with her son and his family.
The river has taken their land
“We have no land any more. It all went into the river. With every flood some land was invariably eroded away, till there was nothing left. So now we work on other people’s land. It’s backbreaking work, but my son does it all alone. But that land too is breaking away into the river,” Kulsum Bibi tells and continues:
“In the last flood, the flood water entered the fields that we cultivate. All the crops are spoilt now.”
Food is scarse
Getting two meals a day is a struggle. They mostly have rice and some vegetables – if they can. The land used to be fertile and they could grow many crops. But not anymore. The floods come in too often and the winds have also become stronger.
“Sometimes if we are lucky we can catch some fish in the river. Earlier the river used to have lots of fish, but now there are very few left. All the fishes have moved downstream. The children suffer the most. My son has five children and I am always worried about them. I want them to be fed properly, but how is it possible,” asks Kulsum Bibi.
The weather has changed
Weather patterns have also changed. Summers are short now and the winters are very cold, but the monsoons are the worst. Many people suffer from water borne diseases and many die. The water doesn’t recede easily and the stagnant water increases incidences of cholera and diarrhea.
Moonsoons – a difficult time for the elderly
For the elderly monsoons is really a harrowing time. “There was so much water during the last monsoon that I fell and broke my waist. My son had to take me to the hospital. All the people from the neighborhood helped me with my treatment,” says Kulsum Bibi.
It is difficult when floods happen. It is important to save everyone, but Kulsum Bibi believes that children should be saved first. “After all, we old people have lived our lives, so even if we die, what does it matter? But the children, they should be given first priority,” she says.
These char islands are the inhabitants’ only home. However, there is nothing permanent on these islands. The makeshift mosque has been broken down twice. Before the last floods it was a cemented structure. The primary school here is also completely under water. The constant erosion is their reality.
“I know of the committee being formed here by RDRS. My son is a member of one of the committees. I do hope they do some good work for all of us poor people,” Kulsum Bibi says.
By Priyanka Mukherjee Mittal
Regional Information and Documentation Officer DanChurch Aid, New Delhi, India
About the Char islands
Chars are flat, low-lying islands of silt within a river. Silt raises the riverbeds, not only creating chars, but also gradually destroying them again through erosion. Siltation also makes the rivers shallower and may cause the rivers to spill over their banks resulting in floods, and sometimes even carving out a new course.
In northern Bangladesh, where the Brahmaputra and its tributaries run through flat alluvial plains and becomes several kilometers wide, there is an area where there are particularly many chars, inhabited by hundreds of thousand people.