the lifeline of the people but also serve as the main road connecting different islands
and providing shelter during the frequent natural calamities. Thus the villages of the
region grew around the embankments making them the central nuclei of the settlements. However, the embankments are not very well maintained. The people
blame the government for the neglect while the authorities cite difficulties raised by
the people. Employing the locals in the maintenance work can be a good way to
soothe both the parties and it is being done in some of the villages. However, the
residents of Rangabelia, Pakhiralaya and Gosaba have complained, that the government does not employ them in the construction and maintenance of the
embankment. Having lived by the embankment, they feel they are much more
knowledgeable than the city bred engineers and contractors. In Beguakhali, however, locals themselves were involved in the maintenance work. It is also a means to
earn some money. During the survey it was also found, that the embankment in
Sagar is better maintained than the ones in Rangabelia, Pakhiralaya and Gosaba.
The government alone cannot be blamed for the poor state of the embankment the
villagers are also to be blamed. Often, bricks from the embankment are taken away
by them to build homes. As the houses of the poor villagers are annually destroyed
by storms or by the river, out of desperation, they take bricks from the embankment.
Branches from mangroves are also cut to make new houses.
When asked whether they would give up their land for construction of
embankment, they said they would, but as long as they are compensated for their
loss. The families living beside the embankment have already lost a great amount of
land to the river and are still losing. Thus, only if they are relocated and properly
compensated with land, they can give up their existing land for building
embankment. But then actually these villages hardly have any virgin land left and it
is almost impossible to compensate them with new land elsewhere. This has
become a major issue of conflict between the villagers and the authorities. Thus,
policies are needed urgently, which would help the villages to rebuild their houses
in the aftermath of cyclones so that they do not harm the embankment which is
extremely important for the survival of these island dwellers and their livelihoods.
In the 1960s, the State government planned to get Dutch engineers and build
dams and dykes in the Sunderbans in the Dutch style. However, structurally the
Sunderbans is quite different from Netherlands. The deltas in the Netherlands are
outward facing, while the ones in the Sunderbans are inward facing. The rate of
sedimentation and inflow of saline water are much higher in the Sunderbans as
compared to in the Netherlands. The waves go as high as 3.5 m in the Netherlands,
whereas in the Sunderbans in high tides, waves go as high as 5 m. Hence the
proposal was shelved (Dutta 2010).
Most of the houses here are made of mud and are of single storey. There are
some brick, two storeyed houses, but their numbers are not very big. The reason
behind this is that, due to the frequent flooding and land erosion, the people lose
their land and homes on a fairly regular basis and thus they do not spend a lot of
Is There a Tomorrow?: The Story of Survival …
371
and providing shelter during the frequent natural calamities. Thus the villages of the
region grew around the embankments making them the central nuclei of the settlements. However, the embankments are not very well maintained. The people
blame the government for the neglect while the authorities cite difficulties raised by
the people. Employing the locals in the maintenance work can be a good way to
soothe both the parties and it is being done in some of the villages. However, the
residents of Rangabelia, Pakhiralaya and Gosaba have complained, that the government does not employ them in the construction and maintenance of the
embankment. Having lived by the embankment, they feel they are much more
knowledgeable than the city bred engineers and contractors. In Beguakhali, however, locals themselves were involved in the maintenance work. It is also a means to
earn some money. During the survey it was also found, that the embankment in
Sagar is better maintained than the ones in Rangabelia, Pakhiralaya and Gosaba.
The government alone cannot be blamed for the poor state of the embankment the
villagers are also to be blamed. Often, bricks from the embankment are taken away
by them to build homes. As the houses of the poor villagers are annually destroyed
by storms or by the river, out of desperation, they take bricks from the embankment.
Branches from mangroves are also cut to make new houses.
When asked whether they would give up their land for construction of
embankment, they said they would, but as long as they are compensated for their
loss. The families living beside the embankment have already lost a great amount of
land to the river and are still losing. Thus, only if they are relocated and properly
compensated with land, they can give up their existing land for building
embankment. But then actually these villages hardly have any virgin land left and it
is almost impossible to compensate them with new land elsewhere. This has
become a major issue of conflict between the villagers and the authorities. Thus,
policies are needed urgently, which would help the villages to rebuild their houses
in the aftermath of cyclones so that they do not harm the embankment which is
extremely important for the survival of these island dwellers and their livelihoods.
In the 1960s, the State government planned to get Dutch engineers and build
dams and dykes in the Sunderbans in the Dutch style. However, structurally the
Sunderbans is quite different from Netherlands. The deltas in the Netherlands are
outward facing, while the ones in the Sunderbans are inward facing. The rate of
sedimentation and inflow of saline water are much higher in the Sunderbans as
compared to in the Netherlands. The waves go as high as 3.5 m in the Netherlands,
whereas in the Sunderbans in high tides, waves go as high as 5 m. Hence the
proposal was shelved (Dutta 2010).
Most of the houses here are made of mud and are of single storey. There are
some brick, two storeyed houses, but their numbers are not very big. The reason
behind this is that, due to the frequent flooding and land erosion, the people lose
their land and homes on a fairly regular basis and thus they do not spend a lot of
Is There a Tomorrow?: The Story of Survival …
371