Cyclone Remal deepens Satkhira's battle with salinity, drinking water crisis

Residents of the coastal district pin hopes on rainwater project amid chronic water shortfalls

The only easy source of drinking water for the people of Gabura union of Shyamnagar in the coastal Satkhira is a pond called 'Drishtinandan', or spectacular in English. However, saltwater has coursed into it thanks to the impact of Cyclone Remal, sapping the source and leaving several villages in a severe crisis.

It's a situation where there's water everywhere you look, but not a drop to drink.

The crisis highlights a growing concern to communities across Bangladesh, particularly in the Southwest, where extreme weather exacerbated by climate change has emerged as a threat to safe drinking water.

At the end of May, Cyclone Remal wreaked havoc in many districts of the country, including the Sundarbans and adjacent areas. However, the most significant damage in the coastal areas of Satkhira was the salinisation of pond water.

GM Maksudul Alam, chairman of the Gabura Union, said 11 out of 15 villages are facing a severe drinking water crisis.

He said out of 42,000 people in the union, at least 36,000 are facing a drinking water crisis. Women from villages such as Chandanimukha, Dumuria, Kholshibunia, Hetalbunia, Chakbara, Sora and Parshemari have to walk long distances to collect drinking water.

Said-uz Zaman, chairman of Shyamnagar Upazila Parishad, said areas such as Durgabati and Golakhali in Shyamnagar are facing a severe water crisis. The tube wells in the area are not functioning due to the depletion of the freshwater table. People rely mainly on open water bodies for drinking and domestic water, but these have also become unfit for consumption due to the effects of Remal.

According to non-governmental organisations, nearly 700,000 people in the coastal river areas of Satkhira are currently suffering from a lack of drinking water.

A survey conducted by the United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, in 2021 found that 73 percent of residents in the Ashashuni and Shyamnagar Upazilas or sub-districts drink unsafe saline water.

Another study by the Bangladesh Soil Resource Institute found that about 53 percent of coastal areas are directly affected by salinity.

Coastal residents of Satkhira, Bagerhat and Khulna have long suffered from a drinking water crisis. Although these areas have water bodies and deep wells, the water remains undrinkable due to geographical factors such as excessive arsenic, salinity, and iron. Residents are constantly struggling to obtain potable water.

Residents of Ashashuni and Shyamnagar say when temperatures rise, their water sources dry up, causing further hardship.

They then look to the sky, hoping for rain.

Good rainfall allows them to collect and store water for a certain period of the year. But heavy rains or storm surges can also cause levees to break or saltwater from shrimp farms to overflow, ruining freshwater sources. Climate change is exacerbating these problems.

In these regions, rainwater is an important source of freshwater. But this year, the lack of rain means they have to rely solely on open water, which is a struggle in itself. People have to walk miles each day with pots from the nearest pond to collect water.

In the midst of these hardships, Remal struck. About 23 kilometres of the Water Development Board's 673-kilometre-long embankments were severely damaged, flooding village after village and destroying sources of drinking water.

Romecha Begum, from Harinagar village, said the crisis was not just about drinking water. There is a severe shortage of water for washing dishes, laundry, bathing and sanitation.

Those who have not faced this crisis cannot understand the suffering of the common people of the south coast," she added.

Shefali Begum of Datinakhali village said that during the Remal, the storm and heavy rains flooded the ponds. Salty and unhealthy water from these ponds is used for cooking and bathing, which causes diseases.

HEALTH RISKS OF SALINITY

- The World Health Organization recommends a maximum daily salt intake of 5 grams, which comes from both food and water. A joint study by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, or icddr,b, Dhaka University, and Imperial College London found that coastal populations consume up to 200 times more salt in some cases.

- High salt intake is associated with high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease. Regular consumption and use of saline water can lead to skin diseases and diarrhoea.

- A 2019 study by the World Bank showed that 20 percent of women in coastal areas of Bangladesh experience miscarriages due to salinity.

- Research by the icddr,b has found that salinity not only causes miscarriages among coastal women but also results in the death of 3 percent of infants.

‘MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH’

In the coastal areas of Bagerhat, one of the main sources of drinking water for the people is the Public Health Engineering Department's Solar PSF (Pond Sand Filter), which requires a pond to operate. The PSF is working well in Bagerhat.

However, several residents of Harinagar village in Satkhira reported that the PSF is not working there because the ponds have become saline, making it impossible to draw water.

In the Bagerhat and Khulna regions, many people drink bottled water sold commercially. But the coastal people of Satkhira are much poorer than the other two districts, so they cannot afford bottled water all year round.

Asit Malik from Harinagar village said, “Even the more affluent middle class and above, who used to buy bottled water from different companies, are facing a crisis. This is because the production of this water is also disrupted due to load shedding.”

Mostafa Aktaruzzaman, leader of the Water Rights Movement and director of Susheelan, said: “In the southern coastal saline areas of the country, including Shyamnagar, Ashashuni and Kaliganj in Satkhira, the groundwater level has dropped significantly. Where water is available, it is not safe to drink. In addition, disasters strike at least two or three times a year.

“When disasters strike, all sources of freshwater are the first to be damaged, leading to a drinking water crisis. The same crisis occurred after the Remal cyclone.”

Ashiq-e Elahi, president of the Satkhira Water Committee, said: “The water crisis has now become a matter of life and death for the people. This crisis may not be directly visible to the government. But in the near future, this crisis will emerge as the biggest cause of major health problems for the locals.”

This situation has not happened overnight. During the Pakistani era, embankments were built along the coast to prevent salinity. However, after cyclones Sidr and Aila, many of the embankments were breached.

In addition, for shrimp farming, many breached the embankments to allow saline water into the ponds. While a few shrimp farmers benefited from this, the majority of people living in these areas faced threats to their lives and livelihoods.

In addition, there has been climate change, natural disasters and unplanned extraction of groundwater. There is also a lack of monitoring of various government initiatives.

Local environmentalists believe that all these factors combine to make the situation more complicated by the day.

Mohammad Shahidul Islam, executive engineer of the Satkhira Public Health Engineering Department, says 25-30 percent of the district's population suffers from a lack of drinking water. Work is underway on a Tk 750 million rainwater harvesting project, which is expected to be completed by 2026. This project will enable at least 200,000 people in the district to collect drinking water, according to him.

Satkhira's Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Humayun Kabir said, “It is difficult to completely solve the water crisis at the moment. Coastal residents are looking forward to the rains.

“Ahead of the rainy season, the government's health department has been instructed to ensure that everyone has access to large jugs of water. The district administration is also occasionally providing large jugs of water to help alleviate the water crisis.”