Kurikahunia bids good–bye to Nurjahan
Nurjahan and Nowsher Ali Sardar/photo: Rafiqul Islam Montu
Gloomy face of Nurjahan. She was sitting near the mast of the Khulna bound launch at noon. The launch was anchored at Kurikahunia terminal on the banks of Kopotaksh. There was late to start the launc. However, Nurjahan has already taken a little space on the ground floor. She is accompanied by her visually impaired husband Nowsher Ali Sardar. Her daughter Karima Khatun will come a little later. It was last journey of the family. The devastation of cyclone Amphan snatched everything from the family of Nurjahan. Finally Nurjahan decided to leave Kurikahuna for good.
Kurikahunia is a station in Asashuni upazila of western coastal district Satkhira. Nurjahan's small house was near this station in ward 3 of Pratapnagar union. She had some land of her own. She lived somehow. The family lived in a shady house there. Despite being disabled, Nowshera Ali Sardar could get some money. Nurjahan worked as a laborer. The family was going on with this. The family did not forget to educate their only daughter Karima Khatun in this family of tension. She continued her studies for her father's wishes. This time the locals are amazed for her achieving GPA 5 result in SSC examination. Nowsher Ali wants to educate his daughter more. He is also thinking of her daughter's marriage. But do not find the solution. Meanwhile, cyclone Amphan on May 20 swept them away. As a result, it is no longer possible for them to stay in this area. So they decided to leave the place.
On the way there were few more people with Nurjahan at the launch terminal who were also leaving the place in a ditressed condition when their dwellings were submerged by the tide waves of the Amphan.
We know the stories of many people who are climate refugees or environmental refugees. Those words were ringing in my ears while listening to Nurjahan's story. How people move from one place to another just like Nurjahan. After losing the last resort, they run away in search of livelihood and accommodation as there is no other option. Khulna or somewhere else? Nurjahan could not say exactly where their destination was. The conversation was with Nowsher Ali. ‘There is nothing here,’ he said. So he is going to Jaynagar of Dakop in search of his ancestral home. Knowing that there were houses; If you can find out, you will be there. But the idea of housing has been added to the education and marriage of daughter Karima Khatun. Her longing, I will educate my daughter facing any difficulty. But how to move forward.
Many more people said goodbye to Protapnagar like Nurjahan in the last few years. At least 300 families have been displaced from the entire Pratapnagar area since the catastrophic cyclone Ayla in 2009. Due to the fragility of embankments at several points of the Kopotaksh and Kholpetua rivers surrounding the union, many parts of the union were flooded even at normal tides. As a result, there is an extreme crisis in housing and employment. It was found out that 5 areas of the union are at risk of erosion. Of these, Harishkhali of Ward No. 4 has become the most important point. It has been seen that the old embankment has been eroded long ago. To address the risk, locals built another embankment through it. But the embankment eroded under the pressure of Amphan's water. The water that entered from here adversely affected many areas of Anulia, Khajra and Baradal Union besides the entire Pratapnagar. In addition Kurikahunia in Ward 3 of Pratapnagar, Sreepur, Chakla Chuibari in Ward 1, Subhadrakathi in Ward 2 and Hijalkola in Ward 6 are at risk throughout the year. About 6 km of embankments were damaged in the whole union.
Harishkhali and some of the Kurikahunia people of the area have strong bondage in the construction of the embankment. There is no such thing as public representatives, teachers, students, laborers. When called, everyone came out of the house. The same scene was seen in Harishkhali before the tide started flowing in the river. People have come down to work in groups. Someone is driving bamboos; someone is spreading bark on the ground. People are standing in line and bringing earthen wheels in their hands. No one is left out. The children also came with the adults. In Harishkhali people were going to repair the embankment among them were a few children. Awal (12), Al Mamun (14), Sajib Hossain (14), Rani Sardar (7) and Osman Gani (6). All of them have been repairing the embankment for several days.
How the repair work is coordinated, I wanted to know from Mahmudul Hasan Milon, a young man who was leading the work of repairing the embankment. He said there was not much support from the government to repair the embankment. Local people have to do this for local needs. Most of the embankments repaired with the help of local residents including the owners of the enclosures. Everyone comes forward with help. People jump to work spontaneously. If these works were not continued throughout the year, there would be more problems in Pratapnagar Union. Shahjahan Hossain of APS Degree College, Asashuni himself remains present at the repair work. He is also at the leadership level. ‘We are doing this by raising money locally,’ he said. Our job is to do ours.
According to the locals, the danger of the embankment has caused many problems in the area. They say the biggest impact has been on people's livelihoods and housing. The condition of those who are making a living by shrimp farming is deplorable. Millions of rupees are being lost by repeatedly entering the water. Many people's houses are being destroyed due to water logging. As a result, they are being forced to go elsewhere. Health risks are increasing. The drinking water crisis is on the rise. Internal roads are damaged and movement in the area is being disrupted. At the end of the conversation with a few old people, at chamber of homeopathic doctor Abdul Aziz in Taltola market. One of them was Fazar Ali Ghazi (63), others were adding to his words. They were saying, we were pretty good after the embankment was built in this area in the sixties. But no embankment was built after that. How to survive? The people of the area demand a strong sustainable embankment.
Wherever I look in Pratapnagar, there is only water and water. Many houses have been submerged. One has to go from house to house by boat or swimming. This is how the days after Amphan. The boat was our only means to go from Taltola Bazar to Harishpur embankment. We finally reached the Harishpur embankment in the front yard of someone's house, over someone's vegetable field. There is no end to human suffering. Even then no one came to look for them.
