Natural disasters cost coastal families Tk11k to Tk58 lakh in 20 years

Families in the country's south-west coastal region have lost between Tk 11,500 and Tk58 lakh each to various natural disasters in the last 20 years, according to a new study.

Besides, the people living in river erosion-prone areas of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River basin suffered a loss of around Tk41 lakh per family on average, while the loss for those in the Barind region stood at Tk1.35 lakh, the study said.

The Center for Participatory Research and Development and its research partners Shariatpur Development Society (SDS), MAASAUS and Badaban Shangho conducted the study in 600 families in Shariatpur, Rajshahi and Satkhira districts.

At a study sharing seminar in the National Press Club in Dhaka on Tuesday, the research agency demanded a standalone legal instrument for the climate victims under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The demand comes at a time when the UNHCR's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change, Dr Ian Fry, is currently visiting Bangladesh to capture relevant evidence from the ground. 

The study identified an increase in dropping out of schools, child marriage, social and sexual harassment, abuse, gender-based violence, child labor etc. in the erosion-displaced communities.

In this study conducted in 2022, the issue of human rights violations in particular areas and differences in vulnerability of the same population has come up. Data was collected from 200 households in each region.

In the south-west coastal region, 100% of the families surveyed confirmed that they have witnessed clear effects of climate change.

In the last 20 years, 200 families have suffered a direct financial loss of about Tk9.25 crore (in current value) because of the natural disasters. Among these direct financial losses, the main ones are losses of agricultural land and habitat, homesteads, livestock, household goods and damage to fishing equipment, trees, kitchens, toilets, etc. 

Women and children are relatively more vulnerable to these indirect harms. For example, 66.7% of the respondents mentioned that women in those areas are suffering from uterine infections/tumors/cancer due to the presence of high levels of salt in the water.

Some 77.8% of the respondents reported that the women in their area were suffering from irregular menstruation, 52.3% of the respondents acknowledged the complications of pregnant women during childbirth in those areas.

In Rajshahi region, the study was conducted in total 4 unions and one municipality of Godagari and Tanore upazilas.

Among 200 respondents, 128 have lost their livestock equivalent to Tk33,769 and Tk67.53 lakh on an average. Homeland losses and damages of 178 families stand at Tk79.80 lakh. The economic value of crop damage of 81 families is around Tk49 lakh.

In the river erosion prone region, 74% of the respondents in five unions and one municipality of Naria and Zanjira upazilas in Shariatpur region felt that the seasonal cycle has changed in their region in the last 20 years.

Some 90% of the respondents said they faced damages due to waterlogging, 91.5% of the respondents said their houses and furniture got destroyed due to river bank erosion that resulted in an average loss of around Tk27 lakh.

Besides, 55.3% of the respondents said their agricultural lands were wiped out due to river erosion as well. In the last 20 years, its estimated market value amounts to Tk48 lakh and an average of Tk24,000, while 52% of the respondents said their livestock were damaged due to various natural calamities and each family has suffered an average loss of Tk2.57 lakh.

Some 71% of the respondents said the rate of being injured and infected by various diseases have increased due to river bank erosion and waterlogging.

Reflecting on the study findings, Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, said it is not the climate change impacts only, there are other issues, such as governance failure, power and class domination, socio-political marginalisation and exclusion etc., which act as the triggering factors of vulnerability.

"We need to address those too, otherwise we might fail to protect rights," he added.

Rabeya Begum, executive director of the SDS, said, "Let not there be a single more instance of child marriage, harassment and gender-based violence."