Sutarkhali Union is located on the south-west coastal side in Bangladesh which exposes it to constant climate hazards such as cyclones, tidal surges, riverbank erosion, salinity intrusion and more. Salinity intrusion particularly affect the community in multiple folds as there is crop production damage leading to unstable livelihoods and scarcity of drinking water.
“We are dependent on the ponds as the only source of drinking water. So, during dry season or when there is salinity intrusion in the water, we have no access to safe drinking water,” says Rahima a resident of the Union.
Reports suggest that many people residing in the coastal areas consume higher amounts of salt than required which may cause severe health hazards in the long run. Moreover, women who are primarily in charge of household chores must walk long distances up to almost 3kms every day, under the scorching heat or pouring rain to fetch drinking water from far away ‘sweet water’ ponds as they call it. This is not only taxing on their body, but also exposes them to high maternity and other health risks.
“It worries me when I leave three of my children at home all alone to go fetch water. It takes me more than 2 hours, as I rush back home to cook and feed them,” says Madhobi as she shares her daily struggle.
Local Government Initiative on Climate Change, (LoGIC) project, led by the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government Rural Development and Cooperatives, is a joint 4-year initiative of the Government of Bangladesh, UNDP, UNCDF, the European Union and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). LoGIC is phase II of UNCDF’s global Project Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) in Bangladesh.
The project uses UNCDF transferred Performance Based Climate Resilience Grants (PBCRG) to climate vulnerable local governments as additional financing and complements the general grant resources provided by the Government to all Union Parishads (UPs). The specific purpose of PBCRG is to help UPs make investments to strengthen resilience to climate and disaster impacts, covering infrastructure and public services for the poor.
To ensure safe drinking water for local people in the saline prone Suterkhali Union of Dacope Upazila of Khulna district, LoGIC project is supporting the local governments to adopt some adaptive technologies. Rainwater harvesting is a cheap and nature-based technology with no negative impact on the environment. It can ensure supply of drinking water for several months if enough water is stored properly.
In the Sutarkhali Union, a sweet water pond that preserves rainwater was re-excavated with PBCRG support to increase water availability for the community. The water treatment plant was set up to benefit approximately 1200 people of 300 households, particularly the women. The project had a planned cost of US$19000, of which US$17500 was provided by UNCDF/LOGIC, and then rest was co-financed by local government and government’s public health engineering department.
The water treatment plant produces 5000 liters of clean drinking water every single day which caters to the requirements of the local salinity affected communities.
“By channeling additional resources based on the requirements of the community in a coordinated approach, LoGIC has implemented a low-cost, nature-based technology.
Women no longer have to walk long hours to fetch water and the community no longer suffers from health hazards from drinking saline water,” says Masum Ali, the chairman of the Union.
Moreover, an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) has been set up in the plant where the users pay Taka 0.40 per liter by using a smart card to buy water. In one year, the plant has earned $1200 by selling water to the beneficiaries and has a saving of $120 after meeting all expenditures.
LoGIC played a catalytic role for this community to build resilience against climate change by working with the community and the UPs to bring out sustainable solutions to climate induced salinity problem.
For more information, please contact: Tahrim Chaudhury Ariba, Knowledge Management & Communication Officer- LoGIC, tahrim.ariba@undp.org, and Md Asadul Hoque, District Climate Finance Coordinator, LoGIC, Mdasadul.hoque@undp.org
An initiative under the Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) Facility.