Reacting to Climate Change: The Rickshaw Fixer

Flooding has always formed part of the life of Bangladeshis but the effects of climate change is increasing the cycle and the severity of the risk to two thirds of the country located on a floodplains of three major rivers. The problem comes from both the sea, which is rising, and the rains that are increasingly and the vulnerability is made worse by the fact that Bangladesh is exposed to storm surges from the Bay of Bengal.

Amir Hossain was once a farmer on the banks of the Meghna river but as the banks collapsed and the water levels rose so he saw his farm and his home swallowed by river that had supported him. Erosion is nothing unusual in Bangladesh but the threat of climate change has made the country much more exposed. Over the last two decades the erosion has increased its rate and the rate of people loosing their land. "I saw the river take my house four times" he told me. "After the first time we moved 10 km to the west. After 6 or 7 years the river took our house again and we shifted 2 km to west and made our new home. We lost our home twice more and became very poor. We didn’t have anything left."

Like many others who farmed the lands along the great rivers, Amir moved 200KM to Dhaka to start a new life. Ironically many of the farmers that moved because the river had taken their land are now working as laborers on the outskirts of Dhaka to reclaim land from the Buriganga river for new housing developments. Amir found a job as a rickshaw puller after which he went onto work in a maintenance yard.

A report by the Refugee Studies Centre claims that Bangladesh is one of the countries most vulnerable to rising sea-levels. Dr. Ainun Nishat, the country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, says Bangladesh is on average just 10 meters above sea level, but the coastal region is even lower.

According to the International Institute for Environment and Development:

"Every year thousands of homeless people, like Amir, move to Dhaka because of natural calamities. Dhaka is growing at 3 per cent annually, one of the fastest rates in the world."

But for Amir his adaption to the effects of climate change have been simple. Move to the city and start a new life.

Text, Video & Voice by D J Clark

Supported by Muhammad Aminuzzaman

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