It has been reported that the Sugandha is not in good health. The Sugandha is a coastal river under the Jhalakathi district of Bangladesh recently intruded by saline water. The river originates from the Kirtankhola river flowing in the Dapdapia union area of NalchityUpazila under the Jhalakathi district. The river then flows through Magar union, Nalchity municipality, Kulkathi, and Ponabalia unions and flows up to GabkhanDhansiri union in JhalakathiSadarUpazila and falls into Bishkhali river. The saline water intrusion into freshwater bodies like rivers from the sea is one of the severe problems in the south and south-west coastal areas of Bangladesh, but never before did Sugandha make such news for excessive salinity.
Saltwater intrusion into the coastal aquifer has long been recognised as a major concern worldwide as it is a problem of fundamental importance and affects the quality of both surface water and groundwater in coastal areas. Ahmet Dogan and Ali Fares, in their paper titled 'Effects of land-use changes and groundwater pumping on saltwater intrusion in coastal watersheds' opined that saltwater intrusion is a contamination source of freshwater resources when concentrations of dissolved solids exceed drinking and/or irrigation water standards.
Bangladesh is one of the largest deltas globally, with a network of 230 rivers and creeks and a coastline of 710 kilometers, hosting unique ecosystem diversity. According to the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) of Bangladesh, 19 districts or 147 Upazilas are defined as coastal districts, out of which 48 Upazilas are exposed to the coast, and 99 Upazilas lies in the interior coast. More than 30 million coastal people rely on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, salt panning, etc, for their livelihood sustenance.
Unfortunately, Bangladesh's coast has already been identified as a zone of multiple vulnerabilities, prone to severe climate change-induced disasters such as cyclones, storm surges, and floods. Furthermore, the country's coastal area and marine environment are under threat combined with anthropogenic hazards, such as erosion, arsenic contamination of the groundwater, waterlogging, and various pollution forms. The coastal belt of Bangladesh is severely impacted by climate change-induced saltwater intrusion. According to the Soil Resources Development Institute (SRDI) report titled 'Saline soils of Bangladesh', salinity affected 83.3 million hectares of land in 1973, which increased to 102 million hectares in 2000. In 2009, the amount increased to 105.6 million hectares. Over the last 35 years, salinity has increased to 26% within the country.
There are a number of reasons for salinity intrusion in the coastal area of Bangladesh. It includes natural, socio-economic, and political systems. Interestingly, all of the grounds and causes are interlinked to each other. A review of the relevant literature suggests that the natural systems include geographical location, sedimentation, sea-level rise, cyclone, storm surge, and tidal surge. On the other hand, socioeconomic systems include anthropogenic activities such as shrimp farming, weak infrastructure, poor maintenance, increased Green House Gas emission, temperature rise, etc.
Finally, the political systems include poor water governance systems at the local level, cross-boundary river policy, construction of barrages by the neighbouring countries, etc. According to studies conducted by the World Bank, Institute of Water Modelling and World Fish, it is revealed that between 2012 and 2016, Bangladesh have quantified the effects of increasing salinity in river waters in coastal Bangladesh, including the areas in and around the Sundarbans - the world's largest mangrove forest that straddles the coast of Bangladesh.
Saltwater intrusion has a major impact on human life and livelihood. As Bangladesh has a large coastline, people are very familiar with the adverse effects of saltwater intrusion. Mass media and social media have been carrying news of salinity in Sugandha river water for the past few days. It is revealed from those reports that people using the river water for different household activities or taking a bath can easily feel the presence of saltiness.
It is reported that people on both banks of the Sugandha splash their face with the water, they feel it salty, and they also feel it when they taste it. Undoubtedly, this is quite alarming, and rising salinity in the Sugandha River will be casting a huge impact on the environment. Furthermore, such a gradual indication of salinity intrusion into the coastal rivers may threaten the primary production system, local biodiversity, and human health.
For example, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (icddr,b) scientists registered 12,867 pregnancies between 2012 and 2017 in the area they have been monitoring for 30 years. They followed the pregnant women through until the end of the pregnancy and found that women in the coastal plains, living within 20Kilometers of the coastline and 7Meters above sea level, were 1.3 times more likely to miscarry than women who live inland. This difference, the scientists believe, is to do with the amount of salt in the water the women drink, which is caused by climate change.
Now, what are the way-outs? First of all, the government should urgently initiate adaptation measures through improved technologies and good management practices to provide a practical opening to build long-term strategies related to salinity intrusion. To make adaptation measures more effective and sustainable, the government should set realistic strategic goals in consultation with community members and local Non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The community should be concerned about the adverse effects of salinity intrusion. It is observed that community management of sluice gates is vital to adapt to salinity intrusion in a mutually beneficial manner.
To manage water flows more efficiently, a number of polder areas in Bangladesh are already using this opportunity. Furthermore, NGOs can form farmers' organizations based on the catchment area and hydrological limit of sluice gates rather than the administrative limits. Concerned key stakeholders should keep in mind that local adaptation plans in the coastal zones should be designed in a way by which local communities can address their problems and solved those through locally applied solutions. Salinity in Sugandha is just an alarm bell that is ringing. We should do our best to understand it!
Dr Bappy Rahman is an Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, Jagannath University
