Access to Water in Kopilmuni Area: A People's Movement in Bangladesh

A Publication by ActionAid Bangladesh

The south-west coastal region of Bangladesh is unique in several ways; as it comprises the districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat and the southern part of jessore. The region is basically a tidal wetland that gets flooded by a high tide at least twice a day. As the land was fertile, people in large numbers also moved in from other parts of the country and settled in the flood plains suitable for the cultivation of indigenous flood and brackish water tolerant varieties of rice.

On the other hand the rivers and estuaries of the region were rich in bio-diversity with hundreds of species of fish and all these factors together made the region abound in rice and fish production and at one time there used to be no scarcity of employment and food in the region. moreover , the largest  continuous mangrove forest of the world, the Sunderban is situated to the south of flood plains, adjacent to the Bay of Bengal.

During the 1960s, the then Government of East Pakistan implemented a coastal embankment project with a view to cultivating high yielding varieties of rice. A number of western donor agencies funded it and the Dutch government provided technical support with which the project was completed in 1973. However the project design failed to comprehend the environment and ecological consequences on an embankment construction and although the immediate impact resulted in bumper crop production in the initial years, the inhabitants started to face severe environmental and ecological problems, well within a decade.

In the post embankment period, as the tidal water could not enter into the tidal plain, the silts were deposited at the upper ends of the estuary and gradually the riverbeds began to rise. As the East Pakistan WAPDA had taken initiative to construct 37 polder, 1556 kilometer embankment and 282 sluice gates around that time, inside the polders, the wetlands subsided due to non-deposition of silt and gradually took the shape of lakes.

These polders that were constructed to solve the salinity problem were taken over by some corrupt and influential officials ( chairman of the union) and used for shrimp cultivation instead of high yielding varieties of rice  hence instead of dry areas these areas became waterlogged. These shrimp cultivators have taken the parts of the canal illegally and are now using it for shrimp cultivation causing more problems of water logging. According to govt. statistics over 106,000 hectors of area became waterlogged at the time causing innumerable problems to the people of the area. The most affected are Horidhali and Kopilmuni Unions under the Paikgacha sub-district in Khulna district.

Some of the problems that are faced by them are:

• Shrimp cultivation closes the canal's flow hence crores of takas worth of fisheries are lost

• 40-50 thousand people of the area facing the water logging problem have become penniless and are having to migrate to other places
  

• waterborne diseases are being spread making the are an unhealthy one to live in
  

• lack of drinking water
  

• roads and roadside trees have been ruined as well as fodder for animals
  

• a lot of landless and single women would earn their daily subsistence through catching crabs and other small fish; they are being denied of this right now hence their have no other way to make a living At the same time their children are suffering from malnutrition and water borne diseases due to lack of proper drinking water.
  

• Both the livelihood of the people who depended on fishing and also the source of nutrition has been hampered due to the water being blocked off and used by the shrimp cultivators
  

• As the lands where they worked also became waterlogged hence that source of livelihood has also been hampered, so most of the days these people manage barely a meal a day.
  

A lot of social changes also happened to the area due to this, like people losing their livelihoods and trying to find work wherever they can such as brick fields, constructions site, shrimp farms etc. a lot of migration to other areas in search of work also took place which left a lot of the female and children of the families on their own.

As the problem became unbearable especially in 2003, when the two unions suffered severe water logging and damage of crops due to heavy rainfall, the people of Kapilmuni union tried to solve it by taking their own measures. They organized a Water Management Committee, a civil society group that was named "Satkhira Water Management Committee" and actively got involved to solve this problem; Uttaran, a local NGO based in Satkhira also assisted them. ActionAid Bangladesh, an international NGO gave them solidarity ad financial assistance.  A memorandum was submitted to the water resources Minister through the District Commissioner (DC) of Khulna as well as others to the DC, MP and UNO. Other activities undertaken by them included blocking or gheraoing the UNO, Water Development Board and DC's office and sending their representatives to the water resources ministry to pressurize the authorities, rallies and marches. After they kept this up several times (one of the key activities being local people creating a huge gathering, of 3000 people and marching to the Khulna Dc's Office) throughout the year and finally after lot of pressure from the people and the Water Management Committee on the 10th of September 2004, the Paikgacha UNO sent a report to the DC of Khulna requesting them to open the Nasirpur canal to enable access for the people. In this aspect the DC of Khulna then sent a report on the Nasirpur canal to the Land Ministry on the 9th of January 2005.

During the movement, the people's feelings are described aptly below:

" How many more days will I live? You go ahead with the fight and I am behind you all the way, I am ready to do whatever it takes for opening up the canal, I am tired of seeing my family go hungry all the time".-Pir Ali Ghazy ( 70) a resident of Horidhali Union and an activist in the movement).

ActionAid Bangladesh which was also supporting the Water Management Committee and its local partner Uttaran has sent a letter to the Land Ministry to open the Nasirpur Canal.

Finally bowing in to the pressure of the community, the Land ministry's to the DC of Khulna has ordered that 60.20 acres of the Nasirpur Canal could not be used as a shrimp farming area as well as ensuring the government compensation from the illegal possessor and solving the water-logging problem. At present situation, the water management committee has contacted with the DC of Khulna for proper implementation of the govt. order. The Committee is still waiting for the implementation of the order.

According to Rezaul Karim, the Secretary of the Water Management Committee, "The people in the area are still very angry. If the Govt. doesn't take any steps to implement the order, then we will have to do it our own way, we will take over the canal if need be. But we are willing to wait and give the govt. a chance to implement the order."

Some of the main highlights of the people's movement in this area are:

• 21 October 2003:The water management committee was formed  as the people of the are decided to go for a movement to claim their rights to the canal
  

• 22nd October 2003: The first petition against the illegal occupation was submitted to the DC's office in Khulna
  

• 22nd November 2003: The people of the are marched in a group to the local administration's office in Paikgacha and submitted a petion signed by the people
  

• 28th of November 2003: The Dc asks the local authorities to submit a status report on the canal situation
  

• 3rd January:2004: the report on the illegal occupation of the canal by the shrimp merchants was submitted to the DC's Office
  

• 8th June 2004:A huge march of 3000 people took place  from the area to the Khulna Dc's office to submit another petition, at this time the illegal shrimp merchant also lodged a case in the Judge Court against the people to be allowed to do his shrimp farming in the water, hence a stay order was given against the people
  

• 20th June 2004: the people also hired a lawyer  to fight the stay order
  

• 22d June 2004: the stay order was dispelled and the DCs office ordered the local authorities to take over the Nasirpur canal
  

• 17th July 2004: the Water Management Committee gave a petition to the land ministry after which the order came to the Khulna Dc's office to submit a detailed status report on the case
  

• 10th of September 2004: the Paikgacha upazilla authorities submitted  a detailed report on the Nasirpur canal case after pressure from the people's movement
  

• 9th January 2005: The land Ministry  also prepared a file and report on the Nasirpur case and started looking into the issue, at this time the Water Management Committee also kept a regular contact with them .At this time AAB also sent a request letter to the Land Ministry to take necessary steps to free the Nasirpur canal from the clutches of the illegal shrimp farmer
  

• 18th April 2005: the ministry ordered the DC of Khulna to resolve all disputes and legal procedures for the benefit of the crops  of the locality and to reduce water logging of the area by opening up the 60.2 acre long Nasirpur Canal
  

For Further Information Please Contact in ActionAid Bangladesh: 

Tauhid Ibne Farid ( tauhid@actionaid-bd.org)or  Tanya Shahriar (tanya@actionaid-bd.org)