Munda, an almost extinct ethnic group from Satkhira, a coastal district neighbouring the Sundarbans, has been forced to migrate 252 kilo-
metres away to Munshiganj.
Their displacement is a consequence of arable land getting destroyed due to increased salinity level of water and waterlogging.
Thirty-four-year-old Srikanto Munda, whose ancestors mainly depended on land farming, is now working in a brick kiln in Munshiganj.
Srikanto claimed that around 200 Mundas, including his family, had to leave their birthplace just to survive.
Only a few of them had managed to find jobs and shelter on the embankment of Kalindi River near their homes while others had to leave the area for good.
Srikanto said his father Haricharan Munda ,70, had urged him to bury him beside the Kalindi River when he died as he still reminisced on his ancestral home.
Around 73,000 Mundas live in 24 districts of the country, according to the latest survey of Bangladesh Munda Association
The association’s President Haripal Pahon said their numbers are decreasing as many had left the country while others converted to other religions due to natural disasters and con ict. “This type of displacement is alarming.”
Haripal said the ideal habitat for Munda people was the Bada area (deep jungle), but now they were bound to live in the city to survive.
“Our cultures and rituals are destroyed from natural disasters as well as anthropogenic disaster like deforestation,” he said.
He urged the authorities to take proper initiative to protect their ethnic community from extinction.
What researchers say
A study, “Spatio-temporal variation and prediction of land use based on CA-Markov of southwestern coastal district of Bangladesh”,
by a group of researchers from Military Institute of Science & Technology (MIST) revealed that 291.8% of water area increased over the last
30 years (1989-2018) in Satkhira district.
This result indicates a rapid transformation of agricultural practices to shrimp aquaculture on a large scale.
According to the Ministry of Land, the coastal zone of Bangladesh covers an area of 47,201 square kilometres.
This is about 32% of the country and consists of 19 districts.
Around 35 million people, representing 29% of the country’s population, live in these coastal areas and will be a ected by climate change.
A joint research by Ohio and Arizona state universities, titled “Coastal climate change, soil salinity and human migration in Bangladesh” showed farmers were bound to leave rice cultivation.
The researchers claimed around 200,000 people will be displaced in 120 years and 40% of arable land will turn into water bodies.
As a result, migration will increase to 25%.
Due to frequent natural disasters like cyclones and storms, the water level of Bangladesh is increasing by 10-18 millimetre per year, the study revealed.
Meanwhile, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) claimed that in 2020, disasters triggered 4.4 million new displacements, most of which were pre-emptive evacuations ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Amphan in May.
In 2019, the Baseline Mobility Assessment in Shatkhira found that 256,710 people had left their homes (internal migration), while 202,782 people had returned to their homes (Internal return).
Another 39,361 people had left Bangladesh (international migration) and 30,821 people had returned to Bangladesh (international return).
Economic migration behind displacement?
Experts have highlighted different reasons behind displacement from the southern part of the country.
Increasing water salinity, industrial development and economic migration are cited as prime causes.
As farmlands turn into water bodies, rural farmers who only know how to cultivate land, struggle to cope with the transformation.
As a result, their economic condition deteriorates and they are subsequently being forced to migrate.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said everyday 1,700 people move to the capital to earn a living. Of them, a major portion belongs to the coastal area.
Role of anthropogenic disaster
Environment expert Philip Gain has said the main cause behind displacement is not water salinity.
Instead, he named shrimp aquaculture and waterlogging as the major reasons.
He claimed waterlogging happened due to embankment failures.
He referred to a study of the US Navy that said the culprit was not climate change but anthropogenic disasters.
He said the locality inside the Sundarban is going down despite an increase in the land heights.
Embankments-based development started during the Ayub Khan period in the Pakistan era.
Waterflows were destroyed due to a barrage. As a consequence, the riverslost navigability and crop lands submerged.
He said shrimp agriculture increased the water salinity in the area and destroyed crop land.
Another cause is less waterflow from the Ganga, and shortage of fresh water from upstream during dry season.
He said lack of embankment maintenance was another cause of water logging.
Embankment failures submerge the coastal polders which is a very common scene in coastal Bangladesh.
Demand of regular maintenance of embankments
Hijbullah, 30, had to leave his own lands in Gabura union under Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira following the 2009 Cyclone Aila.
He now lives in a slum near Khulna city.
Hijbullah said if the embankments were maintained regularly, there would not be any problem of salinity intrusion and waterlogging.
Zohra Khatun, a victim of Cyclone Amphan, also demanded regular maintenance of the embankments.
Abdus Samad, another victim of Cyclone Aila, also demanded planned embankments and safe drinking water, which is another reason behind displacement.
Drinking water can stop displacement
Md Mohsin, secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief said, the ministries were working together to ensure the availability of safe drinking water.
He said the government selected hotspots to implement hydrology techniques to solve drinking water issues as part of the project,titled
“Bangladesh Delta plan 2100”.
They have divided eight hydrological areas and coastal area is one of them.
Among coastal areas, a total of 27,738 square kilometres of 19 districts have been marked as hotspots.
Md Mohsin said general water salinity limitation was 100 milligram per litre, but the ratio of water salinity in Khulna, Bagerhat and Shatkhira was 1,000 milligram perlitre.
The government o cial said: “If we can reinstall the damaged embankments properly, we can also put an end to the displacement.”
Md Mohsin expressed his firm belief that the delta project would bring down the displacement rate to a zero level.
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