IRIN
BANGLADESH: Monsoon season puts Sidr survivors at risk
4 June 2008


BANGKOK, 4 June 2008 (IRIN) - On either side of the road from 
Shaudhkhali village to the Bogi forest range in coastal Sharankhola 
sub-district, the landscape is littered with thousands of shacks covered 
with blue polythene sheets, and graves in clusters of two, five or 10.

These are reminders of Cyclone Sidr, which struck the area on 15 
November 2007 - triggering a 5m surge that killed more than 4,000 people 
and wrecked nearly 1.5 million homes.

Shaudhkhali, on the banks of Baleshwar River, was flattened. About 6,500 
homes were levelled, affecting some 30,000 people. More than 400 people 
died in the village alone. During the day, the polythene turns the 
shacks into virtual infernos at 40 degrees, while at night the wind off 
the sea turns bitterly cold.

For more than six months people here have been living in these makeshift 
shanties, awaiting outside help.

"People from the towns come and assure us that our houses will be 
rebuilt. There are plenty of promises, but not much work," said Tajul 
Islam Mondol, a 50-year-old fisherman who now works as a day labourer in 
the neighbouring paddy fields. He lost his boat and nets in the storm.

"These fragile shelters will not be able to protect us from the rains 
and winds of the monsoons. Those who own cows, goats and chickens will 
face an even worse situation," added Rizia Begum, 50, who lost five 
members of her family.

"With only weeks to go before the start of the monsoon rains, hundreds 
of thousands of families are still living under plastic sheeting, 
tarpaulins and other basic shelters, which leave them at the mercy of 
the elements," the International Federation of Red Cross and Red 
Crescent Societies (IFRC) said recently.

"The combined efforts of all aid agencies as well as bilateral 
government pledges for core housing are likely to reach around 60,000 
affected families. But this is only a fraction of those who need help," 
noted Graham Saunders, shelter head for the IFRC.

Villagers complained that relief supplies by NGOs had dwindled over 
recent months. "In the first few months following the cyclone, each 
family got 30kg of rice as well as other food items per month, but last 
month the quantity of rice was halved to 15kg," said Sonali Banu, 35, of 
North Southkhali village.

Monsoon warning

Officials in the Shelter Working Group (SWG), a body of some 200 donor 
and relief organisations, including the government, UN and NGOs, said 
only a quarter of the required rehabilitation had been completed over 
the past six months.

BMM Mazharul Haq, SWG's national coordinator and an adviser to the UN 
Development Programme (UNDP), said the government, with Saudi Arabian 
and Indian help, was responsible for implementing rehabilitation 
projects on both sides of the Baleshwar.

While Saudi Arabia and India had assured Bangladesh of assistance in 
rebuilding 22,800 and 1,600 households respectively in the Sidr-ravaged 
areas, the work has yet to begin.

Shahidul Islam, District Administrator of Bagerhat, said Saudi Arabia 
would build 4,000 houses in Southkhali Union for which he had received 
close to US$600,000.

"The present situation does not give any indication that the 
rehabilitation will be completed before the monsoon. That means the 
suffering of the homeless will only deepen," warned Ashok Adhikari, a 
disaster monitoring specialist for UNDP.

The monsoon sets in during the first half of June and continues until 
October.

Donors worried

"More than 260,000 extremely vulnerable families are not getting any 
assistance to rebuild their homes. Assessments indicate that these 
families have very limited means for their survival and there are simply 
insufficient programmes in the pipeline to help them," said the IFRC's 
Saunders.

"Most people have to rebuild their houses using their own resources, as 
well as depending on that money to buy food. They are going to be 
thinking about what they need today, rather than longer-term," he said.

Care country director Nick Southern said: "Without a roof over their 
heads people are also exposed to serious health and hygiene risks. The 
situation is deeply worrying."

Furthermore, said Heather Blackwell, head of Oxfam in Bangladesh: "Some 
of the current building techniques are outright dangerous and could 
cause injuries once the winds and rains arrive. We need to make sure 
that people are aware of simple and practical techniques that make their 
homes more resistant to storms, floods and cyclones."

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. In 
2007, two devastating floods, in July and September, inundated 46 of the 
country's 64 districts, affecting 15 million people and damaging 
standing crops on tens of thousands of hectares of land.


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