Still life on the embankment, Pratapnagar could not turn around
Photo Collected
May 20, 2020. Since afternoon, the color of the sky started to change. Before dusk, Kholpetua and Kapotaksha became dangerous. Then the rampage through the night. The embankments were broken one by one by the surge of Cyclone Ampan. The river enters people’s houses, yards, crops. The map of Pratapnagar Union of Asashuni Upazila of Satkhira changed overnight. Six years have passed since that incident. But for many people of Pratapnagar, Ampan is not over yet.
From Sunday morning to afternoon, the villages of Sreepur, Kurikaunia, Harishkhali, Dighlarit and Durgatlarati of Pratapnagar union, 85 km away from Satkhira, were visited. Hundreds of people are still living in small huts on the slopes of the broken embankment, on the side of the road or on the banks of the river. Water falls in monsoon, suffocation in hot weather.
বিজ্ঞাপন
About 30 km out of the 55 km embankment in Ampane Pratapnagar union was damaged. All the 14 villages of the union were more or less damaged. Still at least 500 to 600 families could not return to their homes. Thousands of families have left the area to different parts of the country due to lack of work.
The Kapotaksha river is still swallowing part of the broken dam next to Durgatalaraati. Part of the road has been washed away by the river in Kurikauniya. The floating bridge that was built after Ampan to connect Pratapnagar and Howladarpara is still used by people.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Abul Hasem Gazi (42) of Sreepur village looked at the river and said, “Boys of father-grandfather’s house.” Kapotakshar can buy 10 bigha land son. On the night of Ampan, the dam of the Apdar (Water Development Board) broke, water entered and swept away all the rivers. Then I am staying in a house on the slope of this dam.
Feroze Gazi (65) of the same village said, “There was 18 bigha of land. There was a happy family. All over in one night. When the water started coming in, I ran away with my children to save my life. No work, no house now. Let’s go the way God guides.’
Rizia Khatun (60) of Durgatalaraati village was saying, ‘She lived on this dam for six years. No one is looking. If the government had helped a little, then I would have survived. Mubarak Ali (75), who was sitting next to him, sighed and said, “Once there was everything. Ampan has taken all the steps. Many people of the area have gone to Dhaka, some have gone to Khulna. Where else do I go? is old Now I only remember the previous days.
The picture of livelihood in this town is also difficult. Many people go fishing in river or sea. Some collect crabs, fish, honey in the Sundarbans, some cut betel leaves. But even that does not cut the uncertainty. The touch of modernity has not reached here. People have been struggling to survive for years.
Chairman of Pratapnagar Union Parishad Abu Dawood said that about 600 families affected by Ampan are still living on the dam of the Water Development Board. About 200 families have been given houses under the shelter project. But many people are leaving the area due to lack of work. This number is increasing every year. At least eight kilometers of the 55 km embankment is still very vulnerable. The Water Development Board has been called repeatedly, but no permanent solution has been found.
Asashuni upazila executive officer Shyamanand Kundu said, ‘People have lost their homes in Ampan and moved to other areas. I have heard that many people are living an inhumane life on the embankments of the Water Development Board. I will visit the area and talk to the district administration and the upazila administration and take initiatives on how to arrange accommodation for them quickly.’
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