Seeing the Bigger Picture
5 Villagers Volunteer Their Land for a Raised Plinth
Whilst cyclones, landslides and floods cannot be prevented, measures can be taken to reduce the impact of such natural disasters. Friendship builds raised plinths to safely house a community during flooding. Goynar Potol is a village where the construction of a plinth is underway, a massive responsibility involving the cooperation and coordination of dozens of Friendship’s staff, local government and the resident villagers. It is an urgent necessity in an area that is quite literally tied to the tide.
These plinths are an innovative solution to the flooding endemic to this deltaic region. Earth is dredged from the rivers to create a large, egg-shaped plateau that is 8 to 12 feet high depending on flood-level and strategically placed so that it can withstand the oncoming rush of water during the monsoons. The plinth has a freshwater reservoir in the centre and is ringed by housing and WASH infrastructure for the local village populace to use when they seek refuge on the plinth.
Goynar Potol char (river island) in Kurigram district is far from electricity or access, and needs 14 hours via 2 buses, a rickshaw, scooter and boat to get to from Dhaka, the bustling capital of Bangladesh.
Far in this remote area, the most involved of the villagers are the local landowners who graciously donated their land to have the plinths built. Understanding the value of the plinth as an essential life and assets saving measure, these 5 men from Goynar Potol decided to band together to put their contiguous estates to use.
Md. Abdullah says, “I gave my land to Friendship so that they can build the plinths, so that we poor folks here have somewhere to go when there’s flooding. It will do us some good. What can we do (when there’s floods)? We aren’t left with many options. We have to make do, or we have to flee to neighbouring areas that aren’t flooded. The chest-high water takes everything away, drowns our livestock and kills our crops.”
Rekat Ali, his fellow landowner adds “I donated it so that the people here can have their plinth for their public benefit so that people can have a shelter when time calls for it, that is when there are floods. They have nowhere to go at present and lose everything every year.”
The impermanence of the chars, and the lifestyle that it has forced on these villagers is always at the forefront of their minds. They’re acutely aware of the purpose of their donation, having been intimately involved in the discussion with Friendship to erect the plinths long before the start of construction.
“Peace of mind. We won’t have to go anywhere. We will know we are safe. We don’t have to start from scratch again. It means we can think about our future. Plan for it, build for it. Work towards it, knowing it won’t be snatched away so easily.” Rekat Ali says, speaking of his motivations for signing over his land.
“And our families and loved ones will be safe, the livestock.” Md. Abdullah adds as he perks up, remembering part of the discussion from earlier. “We hear it will have the other stuff Friendship does in the same place. The WASH installations, solar, all that. So that’s great.”
“Yes, it makes things a lot more convenient. There are people in our village who would have to send their kids to school by boat, or swim. Now that’s not necessary. Our kids can finish school, finally,” says Rekat Ali, musing about his family’s future already. He is hopeful, smiling as he says it.
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