Safe Water Crisis and Outbreak of Water-borne Diseases in Sidr-hit Areas

NGO Forum Stands beside the Survivors

The cyclone Sidr hit into the southwestern coastline in Bangladesh in the late Thursday (15 November 2007) night which has left huge losses and casualties. It is officially stated that the Sidr has tolled more than 3064 people (up to 25 November 2007) and still 949 people are missing. Unofficially it is feared that the death toll will cross 10,000 people. The storm also has killed 4.68 lakh livestock and damaged 12 lakh houses and crops on 17,89,000 acre land. The Sidr has left its marks of devastation on 200 upazilas, 1811 unions of 30 districts in Bangladesh affecting 65.51 lakh people of about 16.11 lakh families. The survivors of the Sidr are living under the open sky and crying for food, water, medicine and shelter

The tidal surge has inundated the surface drinking water sources with saline water. People are now compelled to drink saline or unsafe water. Like many other infrastructure, the Sidr has damaged the sanitation facilities, therefore, people are defecating indiscriminately. Lack of food and safe water, use of unsafe water and indiscriminate defecation have been contributing to the outbreak of water-borne diseases.

In order to fight the safe water crisis, outbreak of water-borne diseases, morbidity and mortality in the Sidr affected areas, NGO Forum has stood beside the victims of 8 worst-hit coastal districts with emergency supports which included water purifying tablet (WPT), oral rehydration saline (ORS), safe water in plastic container etc. So as to refresh the safe water and sanitation facilities in the cyclone affected areas, NGO Forum has planned to immediately undertake the activities of repairing of TW, PSF and RWHS, dewatering and disinfecting of

pond and installation & reconstruction of latrine facilities.

Too Early to Link Cyclone Sidr to Global Climate Change

Says Oxfam researcher

A senior researcher of Oxfam, a UK-based NGO, has said it is too early to say that cyclone Sidr, which swept across the counry recently, is related to global climate change.

“No one can yet say whether the devastation from cyclone Sidr is related to global warming. The world's scientists are building better models and collecting more data so that they will eventually be able to draw specific links between individual events and climate change, but so far their ability to do this is very limited,” Kate Raworth, a senior researcher with Oxfam GB, told IRIN from London on November 20.

“So while we cannot say now whether cyclone Sidr is related to climate change, perhaps in 10 years time we will know,” Raworth said, according to IRIN News, the independent information wing of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Raworth's comments followed the release of the fifth report from the working Group on Climate Change and Development entitled ‘Up in smoke? Asia and the Pacific’ on November 19.

The report, compiled by over 35 development and environmental groups, including Oxfam and Greenpeace, says there is a growing consensus about the huge challenges facing heavily populated Asia (four billion people). The report came out just a few days after Cyclone Sidr struck.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that the frequency of cyclone formation in the Bay of Bengal has declined since 1970 but the intensity of the cyclones is increasing. Government

initiatives to build cyclone shelters and establish early warning systems have meant fewer lives have been lost, but more efforts are needed, the report says, “the important point is that we do know that climate change is likely to make storms and cyclones like this become more intense,” Raworth said. “So whether or not this particular cyclone was caused by climate change, Bangladesh will need to be more prepared for events like this as a result of climate change.”

The Daily Star, 22 November 2007

Waste Management
Good Matter
Sewage as fish food

Treated domestic wastewater helps production of carp fish. The nutrients in the sewage are used to develop fish food organisms. Fish food is generally grown in fresh water and the joint research by scientists from Bhubaneswar and Kolkata says that using sewage will help safe freshwater.

The treated sewage makes the water productive by 64 per cent higher than fertilizers. The study was published online on September 18 in the Bioresource Technology. “In India, every individual produces about 100 litre sewage per day. This method will help clean up the mess,” says Subrata Dasgupta at the Regional Research Centre of Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kolkata.

Scientists say the practice is cost-effective and will yield good returns. “The net return in sewage-fed carp production system at lower stocking density is Rs 1.61 per cubic metre water and Rs 0.98 per cubic metre water over six months excluding the cost spent on pond lease,” says Dasgupta. The net return will be 10,000 times per hectre water area.

Down to Earth, 15 November 2007

September 2007

October 2007