Teesta char people want houses on raised land
Poor people living in different remote char areas along the Teesta river in Lalmonirhat have sought help to build houses on raised lands as 16 homesteads made above the flood level at Char Sindurna in Hatibandha upazila provided shelter to the affected people during the recent floods.
During the recent floods, 234 of the 250 houses at Char Sindurna in a Teesta riverbed area of Sindurna union, went under floodwater while the 16 others remained safe as those were made after raising the lands by around five feet.
These homesteads were used as shelter centres for flood-affected people from nearby areas.
Two months before the monsoon, these 16 homesteads were built after raising the level of lands owned by ultra-poor families in the char (land emerging from riverbed) island, some five kilometres from the mainland.
The project was implemented under Integrated Communication Development Project (ICDP-II) of non-governmental organisation (NGO) Eco-Social Development Organisation with fund from PLAN International Bangladesh.
Tk 40 thousand was spent for each house, which included putting earth to raise the level of land, building the structure and planting different trees around.
“Our house went under floodwaters last year but we remained safe this season as our house was built on a land that was raised by five feet. Affected people from the nearby area took shelter in our house during recent floods,” said Rafiqul Islam, 48, a farm labourer at Sindurna.
Shamsul Islam, 62, a farmer of the area, said their house remained under floodwaters for two weeks in last month.
“But we didn’t go elsewhere. Instead, we took shelter in a neighbour’s house that was made on a raised land before the rains. We also want such houses but we don’t have the ability,” he said.
Sindurna Union Parishad Chairman Nural Amin said he visited the Teesta char area during floods and saw how houses on raised lands provided safety for people.
“NGOs can help people in char areas to build this type of homes as they face floods every year,” he said.
Rangpur Divisional Manager of PLAN International Bangladesh, Asis Kumar Baksi said, “With our limited fund, houses for 16 ultra-poor families were built on raised land and these benefited the char people during floods. We will share the success story with high officials of the government so that steps can be taken for such initiative in other char areas.”
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