People in Cyclone Aila-affected areas are not getting adequate food, water and sanitation facilities, say Oxfam staff.

Cyclone survivors in Bangladesh are now facing a severe risk of disease as the supply of safe drinking water is reaching crisis levels. Cyclone Aila hit the coast of Bangladesh on 25 May, affecting 3.6m people and leaving over 750,000 people homeless.

Salt water has contaminated nearly all the fresh water sources in the southwest of Bangladesh and has damaged around one third in central and southeastern districts.

The sanitation systems have collapsed in all the cyclone-affected areas, and human, animal and fish corpses are polluting the countryside.

Heather Blackwell, head of Oxfam in Bangladesh, said: “The cyclone-affected areas of Bangladesh are now an ideal breeding ground for all kinds of diseases. In many areas all the sources of fresh water have been polluted by the seawater, forcing people to drink dirty water. This has already made thousands of people sick. Without urgent action many more will fall ill.”

Oxfam is currently expanding its emergency response to reach 110,000 people in the most severely affected districts of Khulna and Shatkhira in south-west Bangladesh.

Rabeca and Mariam are first cousins from the village of Khutikata in Shatkhira. Their homes are still under water. “The water came from the river, all salty.” Both the cousins walked over kilometres along the slippery mud road to the point where relief will be distributed.

“We never had to come and ask for help from others like this. We feel shy. If we don’t have anything to take back home, mother will scold, our fathers will be angry.”

In Chondipur, also in Shatkhira, water supplies are running short, with only one hand pump raised above the water. But, like many villages in this area, they are so close to the sea that this will be also under water in high tide.

Anowara’s neighbours all found space on the embankment. “I could be the poorest in my village, but at the present, even the affluent ones are also living on this road.”

“The storm came in the afternoon eight days back. First I rushed to a higher ground with others and spent the night all wet and cold. Next morning, I moved to the embankment and made this shack…I am on my own…I work as a wage labourer to survive. But there has been no work for a week now. People from outside came and gave me five kilograms of rice a few days back. Everyday we hope to receive more.”

Farzana is her present neighbour’s daughter. “The only operating tube well nearest to us is serving 400 families. The water is salty…We have water all around us but it is not drinkable.”

Meanwhile in cyclone-affected West Bengal, relief measures will benefit 10,000 households, with plans of reaching a further 10,000 more in the coming days.

An Oxfam India assessment team, which toured the affected districts immediately after the cyclone, found that many people have taken shelter in schools and other buildings, as well as in the camps.

Zubin Zaman, Humanitarian Response Manager, Oxfam India said: “The families in the villages and in the camps are very much exposed to health problems. It was found in one of the camps that one toilet and one hand pump is serving the sanitation and drinking water needs of almost 500 people. 

“There is huge scarcity of safe drinking water for domestic use and cattle as all the ponds (the main water source) have been contaminated by salt water. Most of these villages do not have sufficient number of hand pumps. Where they do have them, many pumps got polluted with salt water and other impurities,” informs Zaman. 

Most of the homes in the area are mud houses with either thatched or tiled roofs. 95 per cent of these have been washed away. The houses still standing may soon fall down as the mud will start drying up.

Most of the people in these areas are dependent on vegetable farming, but they have lost their crops as saline flood water has inundated their fields. People in some of the villages where water receded quickly have been able to save the stored food grains. But other villages have not been so lucky and are still facing severe food shortages.

In pictures: The impact of Cyclone Aila

Donate to Cyclone Aila response
Cyclone Aila: Oxfam’s response

Tags: Bangladesh, cyclone, cyclone aila, India, west bengal

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