FIELD STUDY ON

GEO-ENVIRONMENTAL & BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS OF SATKHIRA REGION

FIELD STUDY ON GEO-ENVIRONMENTAL & BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS OF SATKHIRA REGION SUBMITTED TO

Dr. Syed Hafizur Rahman Associate Professor Dept. of Environmental Sciences Jahangirnagar University Fahmida Parvin Lecturer Dept. of Environmental Sciences Jahangirnagar University Mohammad Emadul Huda Assistant Professor Dept. of Environmental Sciences Jahangirnagar University

SUBMITTED BY
Md. Taufick Imam (574) Md. Sohel Rana (573) Md. Nor Ali (585) K. M. Ferdous Mahmud (568)

Mohammad Rubaiat Islam (581) Dept. Of Environmental Sciences Jahangirnagar University

Submission on: 13th of February 2012

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Department of Environmental Sciences of Jahangirnagar University arrange Field work program each year that aims at the development of the problem solving capability of the students. Like the other years, we, the third year students of session 2008-09 are going on a field trip. Besides theoretical education, we are lucky to have such opportunity to implement various environmental methods and techniques in to solve potential environmental degradation as well as beneficial effects. This helps us a lot to watch the nature more closely and deeply that increases our ability to solve various complex environmental phenomena easily and effectively. This year, we are about to visit Satkhira district and adjacent area that is famous for their characteristic Bengal Delta formation and recent alluvial sedimentation pattern. Besides, the great tropical mangrove Sundarbans is really close to the area. We are really excited and keen to unfold the mysteries of nature by exploring ourselves. We would like to pay our profound gratitude to our honorable teacher Dr. Shafi Mohammad Tareq for arranging such wonderful field work program. The relentless hard work of our honorable teacher Dr. Syed Hafizur Rahman can never ever be forgotten. Without his immense patience and excellent management skills, we are on our way to another successful and effective field investigation. We are extremely grateful to our honorable teacher Mohammad Emadul Huda. Without his parent-like care and all time supervision, it would have never been possible to arrange such giant activity. We would like to get as care we always get from Huda sir in the upcoming field investigation and in-field analysis. In the last, but of course not the least, we would like to pay our gratitude to our recently joined lecturer Fahmida Parvin for making some time for us. Despite her extremely busy schedule, she managed her time for us which are a great honor for us. We will always expect her cheerful and friendly participation, sister-like guidance and overall proper care intra-tour and the days to come. We have no words known to say thanks to our lovely friends. We just want to say that, thanks to God for making such lovely friends for us. Hope we are going to have some great fun besides our field objectives. We specially thank to the members of management committee, transportation committee and food committee for their hard work to make the field program successful.

Contents
CHAPTER ABSTRACT BACKGROUND OF STUDY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES SATKHIRA DISTRICT - AT A GLANCE LOCATION SHORT HISTORY GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY REVIEW ON SATKHIRA DISTRICT ECONOMY CLIMATIC CONDITIONS NATURAL RESOURCES COMMUNICATION FACILITIES ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE & HERITAGE HAZARDS DETAILED STUDY AREA SHYAMNAGAR UPAZILA - AT A GLANCE LOCATION SHORT HISTORY GEOLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY WEATHER AND CLIMATE RESOURCES ECOSYSTEMS SHYAMNAGAR UPAZILA AREA MAJOR TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS BIODIVERSITY ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATIONS POLLUTION HAZARD TROPICAL CYCLONE STORM SURGE MARINE EROSION ARSENIC CONTAMINATION TOPIC PAGE 01 02 03 04 05 06 06 06 06 07 08 09 09 09 11 12 13 13 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 20 21 21 21 22 22

KALIGANJ UPAZILA - AT A GLANCE LOCATION SHORT HISTORY GEOLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY WEATHER AND CLIMATE RESOURCES KALIGANJ UPAZILA ECOSYSTEMS MAJOR TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS BIODIVERSITY ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATIONS POLLUTIONS HAZARDS AILA THE NIGHTMARE LOCATION GEOGRAPHY GEOLOGY PHYSIOGRAPHY SOIL CLIMATE THE SUNDARBANS MAJOR RIVER SYSTEM BIODIVERSITY FLORAL COMPOSITION FRESHWATER HERITIERA FORESTS FAUNAL COMPOSITION RESOURCES PROBLEMS AND HAZARDS MANAGEMENT ISSUES CONCLUSION REFERENCE APPENDIX

25 26 26 26 27 27 29 30 30 31 31 32 33 39 39 40 40 40 41 41 41 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

ABSTRACT
Satkhira is a district in South-western Bangladesh which is a part of the Khulna Division. Geologically this area is part of the overall Quaternary geology of the Bengal Basin. Sediments from early Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river systems were deposited over the northern and eastern parts of the basin during Pleistocene period. Tectonic movements and sea level changes between Pleistocene and recent periods have allowed deep erosion and deposition on the Pleistocene surface. Fluviatile environment of sedimentation in the southern downward area of Bengal Basin formed overlapping deltaic arcs of GangesBrahmaputra-Meghna river systems in recent time. This area is also known for their high amount of arsenic concentration in the subsurface groundwater. A huge number of people are affected by arsenicosis that results from the use of arsenic contaminated water. This area is saturated with many resources including land, water, forest etc. We use these resources in various ways to make our life easy and more comfortable. Problems associated with the consumption pattern and consumption trend is getting higher and higher day by day. In this study, we had a tribute to study such phenomenon by ourselves so that we can solve them in an efficient way. This area is characterized by the high percentage of agricultural activity as agriculture is the major profession of the local people. Highly fertile land of this area is highly suitable for agricultural activity. But recently, local people are getting involved more and more in coastal aqua culture and shrimp culture as it is economically profitable for the farmer. But slowly this practice is producing some harmful impact in the local ecosystem and the environment as a whole. Salinity intrusion is getting the concern of experts more and more as they have some detrimental and hazardous effects. Our field investigation also aims at the study of such phenomenon to avoid such undesirable events.

BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Practical implementation of analyzed knowledge is very important for developing the problem solving ability of a student. Environmental Sciences, like all other branches of science, requires a proper practical knowledge and ability to implement analyzed knowledge environment to minimize possible adverse environmental degradation and maximizing potential benefits. If an environmental Scientist fails to have a good knowledge about problems and possibilities in implementing environmental knowledge in the natural environment, he/she will have to suffer a lot. By realizing this fact, the Department of Environmental Sciences of Jahangirnagar University runs a course on field work as an academic study course each year. As a student of B.Sc. third year, we the students of the session 2008-09, are about to pay a visit the southern part of Bangladesh as a part of our field work very soon. In this trip, we will visit Shyamnagar Upazila and Kaliganj Upazila of Satkhira district. We will study about the coastal environment, their possibilities and problems. We will also try to investigate the major resources and hazards of the area. Bangladesh is a small, densely populated country with a long coastal line of about 700km. These area is the habitat of a large number of population that are exposed to many natural as well as anthropogenic hazards that results in a serious damage of both life and property. We had experienced SIDR, AILA and many more potentially hazardous calamities in the area. Some quick and sensible decision regarding these disasters helped us to avoid a huge amount of potential loss. But we strongly believe that, a proper investigation of the natural processes and their relationship with these hazards will help greatly to minimize the possible loss. Besides, there are many social problems in the area which causes the fall in the standard of living. The number of people that use sanitary latrine is very rare in the area while the rate of literacy is extremely low. We will also try to investigate the social problems like these and find out the possible remedial measures for these problems. So, we can say that, this field trip lies on a strong ground of socio-economic and scientific basis where the availability of information is very limited and the numbers of studies are extremely few. So, we are hopeful that this field investigation will provide us with important data and information that will help us in taking decision on the proper management in the future time including the period of disaster.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Behind any work, there must be some aim and objective. With the great deal of importance the main concern of this field investigation is to observe the environmental condition, natural process, resource and anthropogenic influence of Satkhira district and adjacent areas and their impact on the surrounding ecosystem and environment as a whole. A very important objective of this trip is to identify the problems of the area and their possible mitigation process. OBJECTIVES: Major objectives of our field investigation are To observe the environmental change in ecosystem. To observe the impact of bund on bank erosion. To observe the discharge rate of the river in up & down stream. To acquire knowledge about the potentiality of tourism To acquire knowledge about the seasonal deposition. To acquire knowledge about the socio-economic condition of Satkhira District. To identify change in biodiversity due to human activity. To identify potential hazard and disaster in the study area. To find out environmental problem and their mitigation. To know how to collect the data from field observation. How to processes, analysis and represent the collecting data. To know how to make a tour report To know how to take sample and preserve the sample.

LIMITATIONS: Like all other activity, this study also exhibits some limitations in our investigation as well as decision making. Among them, these followings are significant The data sources of the study tour were basically based on secondary data sources. Within such short time, it was difficult to collect all the necessary information we need Our budget is limited. So we had to make some choices about an appropriate data collection method and use of instruments Confusion was a major limitation during questionnaire survey that made us suffer a lot

METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES

Methodology is one of the most important parts of any investigation. It means the way or manner by which the study is accomplished, which refers to the full outcome of the process at a glance. It includes some chronological steps that are necessary to complete the study successfully. Mode of operation differs with the nature of the study. Methodology is always a compromise between options and choices and is frequently determined by the availability of relevant resource and time. It is very important in the sense that it gives one an idea about how the study has been conducted. A proper methodology is always necessary for any report, which helps to organize experiences, observations, examinations, analysis of data and information and their logical expression in a systematic process to achieve the ultimate goals and objectives of the report. These are the major methods by which the investigation will be completed Questioner survey Visual observation Mapping Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Key information collection from major authority Transect methods Photography

SUPPORTING INSTRUMENTS: There are various instruments that will be used in our study tour. Some of them are GPS-Explorist 200 Digital camera. Location map. Sample bags.

Sample bottle Clip board. Cutter. Marker pen. Pen and pencil Erasers and others Newspaper for Herbarium Biological instrument box

REVIEW ON SATKHIRA DISTRICT

SATKHIRA DISTRICT - AT A GLANCE
COORDINATES: - 22.35N & 89.08E DIVISION: - Khulna BOUNDARY: - Jessore District in the north, Bay of Bengal to the south, Khulna District in the east, and to the west by Pargana District of West Bengal. AREA: - 3858.33 km POPULATION: 1,843,194. 50.54% male and 49.46% female LITERACY RATE: For males 39.7%, and for females 21%. MAIN OCCUPATIONS: Agriculture 36.9%, agricultural labourer 26.74%,

Religion: 78.08% Muslim, 21.45% Hindu, 0.28% Christian, 0.01% are Buddhist and 0.18% others.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: Primary Education Institute (1), Colleges (39), High Schools (221), Junior High Schools (4), Madrasas (259) and Government Primary Schools (622) MILLS AND FACTORIES: Textile mills, rice mill, ice factory, flour mill, oil mill, biscuit factory, fish processing factory, cold storage, saw mill, lathe machine, printing press and welding. MAIN RIVERS: - Morichapr, Kholpotuar, Betna, Raimangal, Hariabhanga, Ichamati, Betrabati and Kalindi, Jamuna.

LOCATION: Satkhira is a district in South-western Bangladesh which is a part of the Khulna Division. Satkhira subdivision was established in 1861 under Jessore district and was included into Khulna district in 1882. In 1984 it became a district. The district consists of two municipalities, seven upazilas, 79 union parishads, eight thana and 1436 villages. The upazilas are: Satkhira Sadar, Assasuni, Debhata, Kalaroa, Kaliganj, Shyamnagar and Tala. The two municipalities are Satkhira Sadar and Kalaroa. It has an area covering 3858.33 km. It is bordered to the north by Jessore District, on the south by the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Khulna District, and to the west by Pargana District of West Bengal. There are many small and large rivers in the surrounding area. Among them Morichap River, Kholpotua River, Betna River, Raimangal River, Hariabhanga River, Ichamati River, Betrabati River and Kalindi-Jamuna River are significant.

SHORT HISTORY: The ancient name of Satkhira was Satgharia (noted zamindar Prannath Roy Chowdhury established Satgharia). During the permanent settlement Bishnuram Chakravorti, an official of Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia, purchased Buran Pargana by auction in 1772 and settled at Satgharia village. Prananath Roy Chowdhury, son of Bishnuran Chakravorti, made considerable development in the area. In 1781, most of the areas of Jessore, Faridpur and Khulna were brought under a single administration. But later on while peasant movement spread over the region against the oppressions of indigo planters and the local zamindars, the British established a subdivision at Satgharia under Jessore district to control indigo revolt and to strengthen local administration. By this time 'Satgharia'turned into 'Satkhira' in the records of the British. Satkhira region was a part of the ancient Vanga janapada. Once it was the capital of the state of bara-bhuiyan of Bengal. Peasant movement, against the east india company and oppressions of the local zamindars, spread over the district in 1801 under the leadership of Titumir. Besides, indigo resistance movement and wahabi movement spread over the district during 1854 to 1860. It became a district headquarter in 1984.

GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY: The geology of the coastal area is part of the overall Quaternary geology of the Bengal Basin (BAKR, 1976; MORGAN & MCINTIRE, 1959). Sediments from early Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river systems were deposited over the northern and eastern parts of the basin during Pleistocene period. Tectonic movements and sea level changes between Pleistocene and recent periods have allowed deep erosion and deposition on the Pleistocene surface. Fluviatile environment of sedimentation in the southern downward area of Bengal Basin formed overlapping deltaic arcs of GangesBrahmaputra-Meghna river systems in recent time. The coastal belt of Khulna-Satkhira is within Ganges delta. Floodplain sediments in Satkhira coastal belt, according to borehole information drilled in the area up to a depth of 300 m are mainly composed of medium and fine sands, clay, silty clay and sandy clay unit. A continuos clay-silty clay layer of varying thickness from few centimeters to 50 m occurs at the top.

ECONOMY: Main occupations: Agriculture 36.9%, agricultural laborers 26.74%, commerce 13.32%, service 4.37%, wage laborers 3.72%, transport 2.46% , fishing 1.86%, pisciculture 1.01%, industry 1.49%, and others 8.13% etc. Main crops: Paddy, jute, sugarcane, mustard seed, potato, onion and betel leaf. Main fruits: Mango, black berry, jackfruit, banana, papaya, litchi, coconut and guava.

Main exports: Shrimp, paddy, jute, wheat, betel leaf, leather and jute goods. Mills and factories: Textile mills, rice mill, ice factory, flour mill, oil mill, biscuit factory, fish processing factory, cold storage, saw mill, lathe machine, printing press and welding.

Major Occupations (%)

1% 2% 2% 2% pisiculture 4% 4% 8% 13% 27% Industry Fishing Transport Wage laborers Service Others Business Agricultural labour

37%

Tourism: - Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world and is a World Heritage Site, and covers an area of 5747 km. Besides, there are many historical and significant heritage sites in the area that plays important role in the development of tourism in the district. Among them Tetulia Jami Mosque, Sultanpur Shahi Mosque, Jahajghata Naval Fort, Joseshwari Mandir etc. are important. Fisheries and farms: - Dairies 86, Poultries 322, Fisheries 3046, Shrimp farms 3650, Hatcheries 66 and 1 artificial breeding center. Cottage industries: - Satkhira is famous for weaving, bamboo and cane work and potteries; other cottage industries include goldsmith, blacksmith, potteries, wood work, mat work, tailoring, date molasses and jute and cotton work.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS: Geographically Satkhira district lies in the south of the tropic of cancer. The climate of this district is divided into four types and these are: a. b. c. d. Pre-monsoon period (March-May) Monsoon period (June-September) Post monsoon period (October-November) Winter (December-February)

Average Temperature of Satkhira (C)

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Lowest Temp Highest Temp

Rainfall: -There is a considerable variation in the rainfall in different parts of the districts. The rainfall in the cold season is exceptionally light. The amount of rainfall reaches the lowest stage in December. Maximum rainfall is occurred in June to September.

Average Rainfall of Satkhira (mm)

400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 40.1 13.7 37.6 86.5 31.2 11.4 152.4 120.6 296.6 297.3 280.1 375.4

Humidity: - The humidity of the atmosphere is generally high throughout the year. The highest percentage of humidity is observed in July and August. The decrease in humidity is rapid till the lowest percentage recorded in March. Temperature: - Satkhira District exhibits a hot humid tropical climate. It has a tropical wet & dry climate. The district has a distinct monsoonal season, with an annual average temperature of 25.5C. The temperature can be as low as 12.5C in January while the highest temperature can be observed in August. Highest temperature of Satkhira can be as high as 35.5C.

NATURAL RESOURCES Minerals and petroleum products have not been discovered in the area because geologically it is still an active floodplain. While some other important resources are widely extracted, used and

developed. Among these resources, forest resource, land resource, water resource, salt and shrimp etc. are very significant in Satkhira district. Land use Total cultivable land 140953.93 hectares, fallow land 41220.31 hectares; single crop 46.91%, double crop 42.19% and treble crop land 10.90%; cultivable land under irrigation 34.03%. Land control Among the peasants, 18.40% are landless, 33.62% small, 24.55% intermediate and 23.43% rich; cultivable land per head 0.09 hectare. Value of land the market value of the land of the first grade is approximately Tk 7000 per 0.01 hectare.

COMMUNICATION FACILITIES
Communication facilities Roads: pucca 335 km, semi pucca 276 km and mud road 3580 km; waterways 164 nautical mile. Traditional transport Palanquin (extinct), bullock cart and horse carriage (nearly extinct), and boat.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE & HERITAGE

Dargah of Mai Champa (Labasa, 1417), Jahajghata Naval Fort (Mautala, 1567), Dighi (pond) and clay walled Moneyghar of Tittar Raja (Nawapara, 1582), Nabaratna Mandir (Demrail, 1580), Baro Duary (Ishwaripur, 1582), Tenga Mosque (Banshipur,1599), Sonabaria Nabaratna Mandir (Kalaroa, 1767), Joseshwari Mandir (Ishwaripur, 1899), Triangular Mandir of Chanda Bhairabi (Ishwaripur), Nagar Fort of Raja Pratapaditya (Kaliganj), Parabajpur Mosque (Mukundapur), Hamman Khana (Ishwaripur), Gopalpur Mandir (terocota decorated), Moutala Mosque, Annapunna Nabaratna Mandir (Satkhira), Sultanpur Mosque, Nagarghata Mosque, Katunia Mandir.

HAZARDS: Except for the two land-locked countries of Nepal and Bhutan all the other five SAARC nations are afflicted by cyclones, tidal waves and their compounding effects. Because of their extensive coastlines, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives have suffered from sea based storms in varying degrees. The devastating 1991 cyclone in Bangladesh and the periodic storm surges over the eastern coast of India show the propensity and destructive violence of cyclones emanating from the Bay of Bengal. Like other coastal regions of Bangladesh, Satkhira is highly vulnerable for the risk of many coastal hazards. Among these hazards tidal waves, cyclones, salinity intrusion, storm surges, coastal erosion and submersion of coastal areas are significant. Due to human activities some hazardous change could occur. For example coastal aquaculture including shrimp culture, crab culture etc. They has both positive and negative effect on envirionment. POSITIVE IMPACTS OF SHRIMP FARMING: Shrimp farming and related activities helped the concerned people directly or indirectly to increase their household income which led them to more savings and investment resulting in better livelihood and socioeconomic condition. In the study areas, 50-73% shrimp-crop farmers reported this opinion. Coastal aquaculture has helped some households to become rich and majority of aquahouseholds improved their economic condition. Average income of shrimp farmers is several times higher compared to those involved in rice farming. As a result of shrimp farming, socioeconomic infrastructures have been developed. Overall 70% farmers reported this view.

Shrimp farming in coastal areas has contributed to poverty alleviation through creating employment opportunity. Seventy three percent farmers reported that employment opportunity has been increased due to shrimp farming. Involvement in shrimp farming and shrimp farm activities, 38% sample farmers reported that their investment capacity to other business has increased and 59% farmers viewed that the educational facility for their children has increased due to extra income from shrimp farms. Social consequences are related to marketing facility and extension of electricity. Fifty to sixty five percent farmers reported that it has been developed due to shrimp farming. Benefits gained from coastal aquaculture operation are higher than any other agricultural activities compared to land productivity. Thus, there is a growing interest of local people towards coastal aquaculture.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS: Shrimp farming has made a sign Bangladesh. This change has created a setback for the significant change in the production system from small-scale rice production and open water fishing to largescale pond/gher based aquaculture in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. This change has created a setback for the small/marginal farmers and the fisherman who use engaged in open water fishing. Thus farmers and traders are alleged to have been achieved at the expense of the small/marginal farmers and the fisherman community. Actually, it is true that shrimp makes substantial contribution to the national economy by generating income, employment and by earning foreign exchange. Despite, positive gains there are some adverse effects of shrimp farming on the environment and society at large. Increase salinity of soils within polders leading to serious loss of soil fertility. Damage of traditional economic activities such as crop and animal husbandry. Decline of livestock population has resulted in manifold problems for agricultural production. Damage of household vegetation and social forestry. Loss of common property rights. Adverse effects on income distribution. Damage to the mangrove forest and loss of biodiversity. Raising river beds in shrimp growing areas. Increasing social tension resulting from absentee entrepreneurship, having no commitment to conservation of coastal resources and sustainable shrimp culture. Insufficient supply of vegetables and small fishes, local people have been suffering from imbalance diet. Administrative corruption has increased in shrimp farming areas. Socioeconomic and environmental consequences of shrimp farming as reported by shrimp farmers and others stakeholders. Detrimental effects on aquaculture (Shrimp culture): 1. 2. 3. 4. Destroyed spawning and nursery grounds. A reduction in fisheries habitats. An end to natural fish recruitment. Reduced natural fish food organisms like aquatic insects, mollusks and invertebrates.

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DETAILED STUDY AREA

Satkhira district is a large district covering an area of about 3858.33 km.The district consists of two municipalities, seven upazilas, 79 union parishads, eight thana and 1436 villages. The upazilas are Satkhira Sadar, Assasuni, Debhata, Kalaroa, Kaliganj, Shyamnagar and Tala while Satkhira Sadar and Kalaroa are two municipalities. So it is really hard to study all the area within such short time. We have a plan to visit two upazilas of this district namely Khyamnagar and Kaliganj.

The famous tropical rainforest namely Sundarbans is not so much far away of the area. So we also have a plan to visit the Sundarbans in order to understand the ecosystem, biodiversity and ecological setup of this forest. For the better description of the study area, we can divide the description of the report into 3 parts. Observations in Kaliganj Upazila Area 1. Shyamnagar Upazila Area 2. Kaliganj Area 3. The Sundarbans

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SHYAMNAGAR UPAZILA AREA

SHYAMNAGAR UPAZILA - AT A GLANCE
COORDINATES: - 22.3306N 89.1028E DISTRICT: - Satkhira BOUNDARY: - Kaliganj and Assasuni upazilas on the north, Sundarbans and Bay of Bengal on the south, Koyra and Assasuni upazilas on the east, West Bengal of India on the west. AREA: - 1968.24 km. POPULATION: 2,65,004 50.46% male and 49.54% female LITERACY RATE: For males 38%, and for females 17.4%. Average 28.1% MAIN OCCUPATIONS: Agriculture 32.93%, agricultural labor 25.81%, wage laborer 6.21%, forestry 2.34%, fishing 5.5%, transport 1.61%, commerce 10.11%, service 3.38% and transport 12.11%. RELIGION: 74.14% Muslim, 25.40% Hindu, 0.06% Christian, 0.01% are Buddhist and 0.39% others. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: Colleges (5), High Schools (28), Junior High Schools (4), Madrasas (98) and Government Primary Schools (96) MAIN CROPS: - Paddy, jute, potato, linseed, sesame, pumpkin, mustard seed, kanchu and vegetables. MAIN RIVERS: - Jamuna, Hariabhanga, Raymangal, Malancha, Arpangachia, Bhet Khal

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LOCATION: Shyamnagar Upazila is bounded by Kaliganj (Satkhira) and Assasuni upazilas on the north, Sundarbans and Bay of Bengal on the south, Koyra and Assasuni upazilas on the east, West Bengal of India on the west. The main rivers here are: Raymangal, Kalindi, Kobadak, Madar, Kholpetua, Arpangachia, Malancha, Hariabhanga and Chuna. South Talpatti Island at the estuary of the Hariabhanga is notable places. Shyamnagar town consists of 5 mouzas and 13 villages. The area of the town is 10.76 km. The town has a population of 11021; male 52.36% and female 47.64%. The density of population is 1024 per km. Literacy rate among the town people is 37.3%. The town has three dakbungalows and a BDR Head Quarter. Shyamnagar thana was turned into an upazila in 1982. It consists of 13 union parishads, 127 mouzas and 216 villages. Average literacy in whole upazila is 28.1% (male 38% and female 17.4%). There are 5 colleges, 28 high schools, 98 madrasas, and 96 government primary schools. Main occupations of people are agriculture. About 32.93% people are engaged with this work. Main exports Paddy, jute and shrimp.

SHORT HISTORY: Once the capital of Raja Bikramaditya and Maharaja Pratapaditya was at Dhumghat of Satkhira. Later it was transferred to Ishwaripur (Originated from the name Jeshoreshwaripur). Maharaja Pratapaditya declared independence of South Bengal (Jessore, Khulna in north, Sundarbans, Bay of Bengal in South, and Barisal in east and River Ganges in west) against the Mughal Empire of India. Pratapaditya was the king of Jessore and one of the bara-bhuiyans of Bengal. Pratapaditya fought against the Mughal imperial army during its inroad into Bengal in the early 17th century. His territories covered the greater part of what is now included in the greater Jessore, Khulna and Barisal districts. He established his capital at Dhumghat, a strategic position at the confluence of the Jamuna and Ichhamati. A battle between the Pak army and the freedom fighters was held at Gopalpur on 20 August 1971 in which freedom fighters Subedar Ilias Khan, Abul Kalam Azad, Abdul Kader and Abdul Jabbar were killed. On 12 September 1971 the Pak army conducted genocide at Harinagar in which 39 persons were killed and 2 wounded. Mass killing sites are Harinagar and Katkhali. Memorial monuments are found at Gopalpur and Harinagar.

GEOLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY: The geology of the coastal area is part of the overall Quaternary geology of the Bengal Basin (BAKR, 1976; MORGAN & MCINTIRE, 1959). Sediments from early Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river systems were deposited over the northern and eastern parts of the basin during Pleistocene period. Tectonic movements and sea level changes between Pleistocene and recent periods have allowed deep erosion and deposition on the Pleistocene surface. Fluviatile environment of sedimentation in the southern downward area of Bengal Basin formed overlapping deltaic arcs of GangesBrahmaputra-Meghna river systems in recent time. The coastal belt of Khulna-Satkhira is within Ganges delta. Floodplain sediments in Satkhira coastal belt, according to borehole information drilled in the area up to a depth of 300 m are mainly composed of medium and fine sands, clay, silty clay and sandy clay unit. A continuos clay-silty clay layer of varying thickness from few centimeters to 50 m occurs at the top. This top clay layer is underlain by medium to fine sand, silty sand and sandy clay alternations and is followed by a clay, silty-sandy clay layer occurring at different depths

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ranging from 75 to 270 m. The lower boundary of this regionally extending clay layer has not been penetrated by boreholes.

. Figure: - Geological profiles in Shyamnagar Three aquifers (First, Second and Third) are confirmed to continuously distributed in Satkhira area as shown in Figure. Clayey layer generally becomes thicker in Satkhira area and boundary of aquifer becomes deeper into southern part. In case of first aquifer, while sandy layer is mainly distributed in Jessore area, clayey layer is distinguished in southern part of Satkhira area. In the case of the second aquifer, while clayey layer is distributed in only southern part of Jessore area, two clayey layers are distributed in almost all Satkhira area. Second aquifer is divided into upper part and lower part.

Figure: Standard model of aquifer unit in Jessore and Satkhira area (Yellow color: sandy layer, Green color: clayey layer, Blue arrowed area: deep aquifer The layer which is distinguished clay and silt is presumed to be delta front deposit in both First and Second aquifer. Third aquifer is rarely confirmed on geological log due to become deeper in Satkhira area. First aquifer is the target layer of shallow tube well and high contaminated zone of arsenic. Second aquifer has different geological situation from place to place and characteristics of both shallow aquifer and deep aquifer. A risk of arsenic contamination in Second aquifer is assumed to be high toward north from Jessore area, because there is no inter-bedded clayey layer between First and Second aquifer in Jessore area. Meanwhile development of Second aquifer is assumed to be possible from southern part of Jessore to Satkhira, because the inter-bedded clayey layer between First and

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Second aquifer exists in this area. While the inter-bedded clayey layer between Second and Third aquifer exists in all area, development of Third aquifer is difficult in some area because of depth of aquifer.

WEATHER AND CLIMATE: Weather and climate of the area is similar to the other coastal districts and regions. Temperature of this area shows high variation in months of the year. The temperature remains high during April to September of the year while gradual reduction in temperature is observed from end of September. Temperature falls down to the lowest stage at the end of December to Mid-January when we experience huge cold weather

Fig: - Climatic conditions of Shyamnagar Upazila A few cold waves can also be experienced during these periods. The temperature again increases from the mid-February. The average mean temperature of this area is almost 24.5C. But the extreme cold temperature can be as low as 8C. The highest temperature of the year can be as high as 35.5C. Humidity of this area is moderately high compared to the nearby districts and shows a high variation in months. Humidity of the area reaches the lowest level during the month March when rainfall is very low. With the increasing rainfall, humidity increases gradually. As a result, we can see a rapid increase in humidity during May to August. At the end of August, humidity again decreases. Rainfall of Shyamnagar Upazila shows a unique pattern of change. The amount of rainfall is very low during November to February of the year. At the end of March, the amount of rainfall increases with time. The amount of rainfall reaches to the highest level during July while the least amount of rainfall is experienced during the end of December to mid-January. Evaporation of the area shows the increase during January to May. At the end of May, the amount of evaporation decreases gradually up to the end of December. The least amount of evaporation is experienced during the early January.

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RESOURCES: Shyamnagar Upazila is full of many significant amounts of resources. We use these resources in various ways for the growth and development of our society in various ways. Among these resources, these followings are some important types of resources1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Forest Resource Water Resource Land Resource Food Resource Energy Resource Mineral Resource

FOREST RESOURCE: The Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world that is situated very close to the area. This is a large forest of many natural and endangered plant species. These plants are used in different ways to make our life easy and more comfortable. There are two types of use for the forest resources. They are1. Direct Use 2. Indirect Use Direct use of forest products are as follows Fruits: - Mango, Hackfruit, Berry, Lichi, Guava etc. Roots: - Discoria Medicine: - Basak (Adhatoda Vasica), Kalomegh (Andrographis aniculata ), Shatomuli (Asparagus racemosus), Brahmi (Bacopa Moniera), Dhutura (Datura metel) etc. Fuelwood: - Many species of trees and shrubs Small timber for building huts and houses Wood for farm implements Bamboo and cane for breakfasts Grass for grazing and small feeding livestock Building material for construction and furniture for urban sector Medicinal products collected and processed into drugs Gums and resins processed into a variety of products Raw material for industrial products and chemicals Paper from bamboo and softwood

Indirect Uses of the forest includes-

WATER RESOURCE: Water resource is an important resource of the area. Water of this area is used in different ways for making our life easy and more comfortable. The local people use a huge volume of water in different ways. Cultivation of fish is the historical form of the use of water resource in the area. But recently the water use pattern has been changed a lot. Local people are feeling more and more interest in coastal aqua culture and salt cultivation. These two activities are playing significant role in the development of the financial and socioeconomic conditions of the surrounding area. The local infrastructures and other facilities are getting dramatically improved. As a result, rapid improvement in the standard of living is observed. Besides their positive economic outcomes, many harmful

16

effects and consequences are also experienced in the area. Sea water intrusion and the increased level of salinity is the very common problem that we face recently.

LAND RESOURCE: Landforms formed from the huge amount of alluvial sediments play important role in the development of the local social and economic conditions. This area is basically an agricultural land. Highly fertile land of the area like these is highly potential for the cultivation of paddy, jute, sugarcane etc. But with the increased use of salt culture and shrimp culture, the level of salt is increasing day by day. As a result, these highly potential and cultivable lands are losing their fertility. A quick response against the potential harmful change in the state of the land resource should be taken. Otherwise we will have to suffer a lot in the near future.

FOOD RESOURCE: This area provides us with valuable food resources from various sources. Among these sources, forest, agriculture, animal husbandry ad fishery are important. Once our lands were fertile and we were able to produce high amount of crops without the help of any fertilizers. But with the increasing use of chemical fertilizers and insecticides and pesticides, the fertility of the land is decreasing. Besides the over exploitation and over extraction of forest resources are playing harmful impact on the overall food resources. To maintain continuous food supply, we need to be careful when we use chemical fertilizers, pesticides as well as the pattern and rate of forest resource extraction.

ENERGY RESOURCE: The area is highly potential in terms of energy resource. The collection and utilization of forest products are the main source of energy resources in the area. A large number of people are directly and indirectly dependent of the collection of fuel wood and their business. By this way, they earn a significant amount of money that plays significant role in local, regional and national scale. Local people use wood as the major type of energy source to cook food and serve many other purposes. By this way, energy plays significant role in the development of the area and increases the standard of living of the local people.

MINERAL RESOURCE: The presence and extraction of mineral resource is very limited in the Shyamnagar area. There is hardly any mineral resource to be found in the area. The presences of petroleum ad crude hydrocarbons are yet not discovered. This is mainly because of the nature of the sedimentation and stratigraphic succession pattern. This area is an example of recent alluvial sedimentation and its sedimentation stage is not matured yet. That is why the presence of any hydrocarbon or petroleum resource is not discovered so far.

ECOSYSTEMS: Organisms and environment are two non-separable factors. Organisms interact with each other and also with the physical conditions that are present in their habitats. "The organisms and the physical features of the habitat form an ecological complex or more briefly an ecosystem." There are many major ecosystem found in the study area. The structure of these ecosystems is common. From the structure point of view, all ecosystems consist of the following basic components 1. Abiotic components 2. Biotic components

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Abiotic Components: This includes basic inorganic elements and compounds, such as soil, water, oxygen, calcium carbonates, phosphates and a variety of organic compounds (by-products of organic activities or death). It also includes such physical factors and ingredients as moisture, wind currents and solar radiation. Radiant energy of sun is the only significant energy source for any ecosystem. Different non-living components, such as carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, etc have great importance. Biotic Components: The biotic components include all living organisms present in the environmental system. From nutrition point of view, the biotic component can be grouped into two basic components: 1. Autotrophic components, and 2. Heterotrophic components Biotic components of an ecosystem can be described under the following three heads: 1. Producers (Autotrophic components), 2. Consumers, and 3. Decomposers or reducers and transformers Producers (Autotrophic elements): The producers are the autotrophs, chiefly green plants. The chemical energy is actually locked up in the energy rich carbon compounds. This is used in respiration by all living things. In Shyamnagar Sundari and Gewa occur prominently throughout the area with discontinuous distribution of Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza). Among grasses and Palms, Poresia coaractata, Myriostachya wightiana, Imperata cylindrica, Phragmites karka, Nypa fruticans are examples of producers. Consumers: - Those living members of ecosystem which consume the food synthesized by producers are called consumers. Under this category are included all kinds of animals that are found in an ecosystem. There are different classes or categories of consumers, such as, Primary consumers: - These are purely herbivorous animals that include Insects, rodents, rabbit, deer, cow, buffalo, goat; Humans are some of the common herbivores in the terrestrial ecosystem, and small crustaceans, mollusks, etc. in the aquatic habitat. Secondary consumers: - These are carnivores and omnivores. Examples of secondary consumers are sparrow, crow, fox, wolves, dogs, cats, snakes, Humans etc. Tertiary consumer: - These are the top carnivores which prey upon other carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Tigers, hawk, vulture, etc. are considered as tertiary or top consumers. Decomposers: Decomposers and transformers are the living components of the ecosystem and they are fungi and bacteria. Decomposers attack the dead remains of producers and consumers and degrade the complex organic substances into simpler compounds. That changes these organic compounds into the inorganic forms that are suitable for reuse by producers or green plants. The decomposers and transformers play very important role in maintaining the dynamic nature of ecosystems.

MAJOR TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS: Major Ecosystem can be classified as Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. Both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are present in the surrounding Shyamnagar area.

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Aquatic Ecosystem

Fresh water Ecosystem

Brackish water Ecosystem

Marine Ecosystem

Pond and Lake

River and Streem

Esturian and sea coasts

Manmade Ecosystem

Deep and shallow ocean

The dominating aquatic ecosystem includes brackish water ecosystem. The geological position of the area and different natural calamity make the area slightly saline which is known as brackish environment. This region has both the influence of terrestrial and marine environment making the area quietly unfit for crop production as northern zone.

Terrestrial Ecosystem

Forest Ecosystem

Grassland Ecosystem

Manmade Ecosystem

Crop fields ecosystem

Garden Ecosystem

BIODIVERSITY: FLORA: - Major plant species found in this area are as followsLocal name Mango Sil Koroi Blackberry Jackfruite Simul Litchi Sarisa Sundari Scientific name Mangifera indica Albizia lucida Syzygium cumini Artocarpous heterophyllus Bombax ceiba Litchi chinensis Brassica campestris Heritiera littoralis Local name Raintry kory Kadam Mahagani Barai Coconut Paddy Tall Keora Scientific name Samanea saman Anthrocephalus chinensis Swietenia mahagoni Zizyphys manuritiana Cocos nucifera Oryza sativa Borassus fiabillifer Sonneratia apetala

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FAUNA: - Among various animal species, these followings are significantName Cow Hen Goat Deer Harriers Name Dog Crow Monkey Pegion Jungle Crows, Name Herring Gulls Caspian Terns Brahminy Ducks Spot-billed Pelicans Cotton Teals Name Spotted Doves Red Junglefowls Common Mynahs Gray Herons Jungle Babblers

ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATIONS: POLLUTION Pollution is the effects of undesirable changes in our surroundings that have a harmful impact on plants, animals and human beings. Pollutants are substances that are mainly responsible for the pollution to occur. Since the dawn of civilization, we the humans are modifying the natural environment and ecosystem. This is resulting nothing but the harmful consequences that is causing a significant amount of loss in the present age and immense amount of harm for the day to come. In our daily life we are causing several types of pollution in our native environment. Among them, these followings are very significant in the Shyamnagar area Air Pollution Water Pollution Land Pollution AIR POLLUTION: Air pollution can be experienced by various ways and many natural as well as anthropogenic activities are responsible for the generation of air pollutants. There are two major types of air pollutants. They are1. Primary pollutants 2. Secondary Pollutants 90% of the total amount of air pollution is occurred by the primary pollutants while secondary pollutants contribute only 10%. Among the major primary pollutants of the area, these are significant Dust and particulate matters from rice mills Automobile emission Fossil fuel burning (SOx, NOx CO2, CO etc.) Gases produced from burning of wood, plant and biomass

There are many types and forms of secondary pollutants that are responsible for the generation of air pollution. These types of pollutants are formed from the reaction of the primary pollutants with natural and atmospheric gases. H2SO4, HNO3, H2CO3 etc. are among the most common type of secondary pollutants.

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WATER POLLUTION: Throughout history, the quality of drinking water has been a factor in determining human welfare. Fecal pollution of drinking water has frequently caused waterborne diseases that have decimated the populations of whole cities. Unwholesome water polluted by natural sources has caused great hardship for people forced to drink it or use it for irrigation. Currently, waterborne toxic chemicals pose the greatest threat to the safety of water supplies in industrialized nations. The presence of industrial factories and their number is very few in the area. As a result, they contribute relatively small amount of water pollutants than the other areas of Bangladesh. The major amount of water pollution is occurred by the use of chemical insecticides, pesticides and other hazardous chemicals. Pollutants that are responsible for water pollution are of 2 types. 1. Point source pollutants 2. Non-point sources Disease causing agents such as virus, bacteria, protozoa etc. are some very common type of water pollutants. For example E. coli, Streptococcus etc. are some of them. High BOD, oxygen depleting wastes, plant nutrients (NPK), fertilizer, pesticides, acids, salts, toxic metals (As, Hg, Lead) etc. are among the most significant water pollutants of the area. LAND POLLUTION: Land of the area is historically very fertile. But the practice of over cultivation and application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are significantly reducing the fertility of the soil. Change in the drainage pattern of the area is also causing harm to the fertility of the soil. Sometimes, many natural disasters such as cyclone, tsunami, storm surge, thunder storm etc. are responsible for the degradation of land resources.

HAZARD: Tropical cyclone: - Tropical cyclones are possibly the most destructive of natural phenomena in their combination of violence, duration and size of area affected. Cyclones are low pressures systems around which the air circulates in an anti-clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere. Cyclones those hit the coastal areas of Bangladesh, usually forms in the Intertropical Convergence Zone situated between 5 and 10 degree latitudes of the Indian Ocean. These cyclones, afterward, directed above 6-9 km from the sea surface towards the coast through accelerating speed and force by wind blowing. Therefore, the cyclone accompanied with torrential rain and devastating tidal surge causes havoc to lives and property in the cyclone path, and the environment in the affected area. In the islands and coastal mainland of Bangladesh the major aftermaths of a cyclone are losses of human lives, livestocks, fishes, agricultural properties and production, inundation of land and ponds by saline water, loss of houses, break-down of sanitation system, non-availability of safe drinking water and food stuff. Storm surge: - A storm surge is a shoal-water process generated by tropical cyclones. It is defined as a super elevation of sea level due to a combination of wind-driven water and an uplift induced by the pressure drop. The sea level can rise to immense heights as a tropical cyclone center arrives at Coastal erosion is another serious problem that affects several countries of South Asia.

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Marine erosion: -The southwest coast of India, along the state of Kerala, is well known for marine erosion. This coast is eroding at the rate of six meters annually. Like all other coastal areas, coastal erosion is also a great hazard of Satkhira and Shyamnagar. Erosion hazard is greatest during the monsoons. The southwest monsoon from May-September generates waves of high intensity.

ARSENIC CONTAMINATION: The greatest natural hazard currently being confronted by Bangladesh is the contamination of groundwater by ARSENIC. The number of arsenic patients is increasing alarmingly in Kalaroa and Debhata upazilas of the district in recent times, reports BSS. A total of 748 people are reported to have been attacked with arsenic related diseases in the two upazilas of the district. Of the total 748 arsenic patients, 683 are reported from Kalaroa upazila and 65 from Debhata upazila. The victims include farmers, day labourers and housewives. Most of the arsenic affected people are poor and in the absence of treatment facilities, they are passing their days in anxiety. According to official sources of the total patients 12 are reported from Helatola union, 73 from Keralkata, 16 from Sonabaria, 96 from Joynagar, 24 from Chandanpur, 46 from Jugikhali, 52 from Keragachi, 83 from Kushkhali, 60 from Diara, 37 from Langaljhara, 85 from Jalalabad and 79 from Kaila union under Kalaroa upazila and 15 from Sakhipur, 12 from Debbata Sadar, nine from Noapara, 16 from Kulia and 13 from Parulia under Debhata upazila.

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The patients were detected in Kalaroa upazila during the recent survey conducted by Society on Health and Care (SOHAC) and in Debhata upazila conducted by Community Health Department Society (CHDS) with the help of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and NGOs under Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP). According to the survey report, water of 16,962 tube-wells out of the total 17,811 under Kalaroa upazila was tested, of which 16,146 tube-wells were found to contain high percentage of arsenic. In Debhata upazila, 8,678 tube-wells were found as arsenic contaminated.

The survey found 95.19 per cent tube-wells in Kalaroa upazila and 72 per cent tube-wells in Debhata upazila were containing water with arsenic beyond permissible limit. Anxious people of these areas have been desperately trying to collect water from deep tube-wells, which are few and far between.

MITIGATION: Mitigation government, non-government and international organisations are working on arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh. The government has taken up BAMWSP with a loan from the World Bank. A number of techniques have been used by government, international and non-government agencies for mitigating the problem, which has become a very big public health issue. Household level arsenic removals a number of techniques have been developed to remove arsenic from drinking water at household level, ie smallscale removal plants or filters. The available techniques include 3-kalsi method, safi filter, SOES-filter, 2-bucket system, passive

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sedimentation, etc. These techniques are used at household level where arsenic contaminated water is passed through a filtering unit to remove arsenic and make the water fit for drinking. Very shallow tubewells and dugwells very shallow tubewells and dugwells (less than 10m deep) have been found to be arsenic free in most parts of the country and are being considered as an alternative source of arsenic-free drinking water. However, microbial contamination in this type of groundwater is normally high, as is the amount of nitrate. Pond sand filter this is a slow sand filter that utilises pond water. A sand filter is constructed near a reserved pond and this can provide arsenic and bacteria free drinking water. However, maintenance is a major problem. Rainwater harvesting rainwater is also being considered as a source of arsenic-free water, at least during the monsoon. Rainwater is collected and stored in large earthen or Ferro cement jars for drinking. Deep groundwater so far the deeper groundwater (>150m) has been found to be mostly arsenic-free, particularly in the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Deeper groundwater is considered a long-term source of safe drinking water. Treated surface water surface water normally contains very large amounts of microbiological contaminants. Where available, surface water can be treated to provide safe drinking water.

Arsenic removal plant large-scale arsenic removal plants can be built to remove arsenic from the water supply in municipal areas where piped water supply exists. A number of such plants have been built at MANIKGANJ, Meherpur and Satkhira.

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KALIGANJ UPAZILA
KALIGANJ UPAZILA - AT A GLANCE
COORDINATES: : 2227N 892.5E DISTRICT: - Satkhira BOUNDARY: - DEBHATA and ASSASUNI upazilas on the north, SHYAMNAGAR upazila on the south, Assasuni and Shyamnagar upazilas on the east, West Bengal of India on the west. AREA: - 333.79 km2 MAIN OCCUPATIONS: Agriculture 32.28%, fishing 1.16%, agricultural labourer 27.6%, wage labourer 4.74%, handloom 1.24%, industry 2.31%, transport 3.16%, commerce 15.3%, service 3.98%, and others 8.23%. POPULATION: 225596; male 51%, female 49% LITERACY RATE: Average literacy 32.3%; male 41.8% and female 22.4%. RELIGION: Muslim 79.65%, Hindu 20.29% and others 0.06%. RELIGION: Muslim 79.65%, Hindu 20.29% and others 0.06%. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: - College 4, collegiate school 2, technical school 1, high school 26, junior high school 2, government primary school 86, non-government primary school 35. MAIN CROPS: - Paddy, wheat, brinjal, betel leaf, potato, patal. MAIN RIVERS: - ICHAMATI, Kakshiali, Kalindi and Little Jamuna. INDUSTRIES: - Ice factory 5, flour mill 1, and rice mill 7. Cottage industries

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LOCATION: Kaliganj Upazila (SATKHIRA district) with an area of 333.79 km2, is bounded by DEBHATA and ASSASUNI upazilas on the north, SHYAMNAGAR upazila on the south, Assasuni and Shyamnagar upazilas on the east, West Bengal of India on the west. Main rivers are ICHAMATI, Kakshiali, Kalindi and Little Jamuna. . The upazila consists of 12 union parishads, 243 mouzas and 249 villages. Kaliganj (Town) consists of six mouzas. The area of the town is 7.96 sq km. It has a population of 13518; male 53.25%, female 46.75%; density of populations is 1698 per sq km. The town has one dakbungalow.

SHORT HISTORY: Kaliganj was announced as a thana in 1942 while it was turned into an upazila in 1983. There are many important Archaeological heritage and relics Fort present in the surrounding area that represents a robust historical background of the upazila. We can found many historical buildings in the village Mukundapur built by Bikramaditya and Basanta Roy, Parbajpur Mosque (Mukundapur), Madinar Dargah (Bishnupur), Nabaratna Mandir at village Basantapur built by Bikramaditya.

GEOLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOGY: The geology of the coastal area is part of the Quaternary geology of the Bengal Basin. Sediments from early Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river systems were deposited over the northern and eastern parts of the basin during Pleistocene period. Tectonic movements and sea level changes between Pleistocene and recent periods have allowed deep erosion and deposition on the Pleistocene surface. The geological features of kaliganj are mainly composed of medium and fine sands, clay, silty clay and sandy clay unit. A continuos clay-silty clay layer of varying thickness from few centimeters to 60m occurs at the top. This top clay layer is underlain by medium to fine sand, silty sand and sandy clay alternations and is followed by a clay, silty-sandy clay layer occurring at different depths ranging from 80 to 285 m.

Figure: - Geological profiles in Kaliganj. Three aquifers (First, Second and Third) are confirmed to continuously distributed in Kaliganj area as shown in Figure. Clayey layer generally becomes thicker in Satkhira area and boundary of aquifer becomes deeper into Kaliganj. The first aquifer composed of sandy layer that is mainly distributed in Satkhira area. Clayey layer is distinguished in southern part of Kaliganj area. First aquifer is the target layer of shallow tube well and high contaminated zone of arsenic.

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 The second aquifer comprises with clayey layer which is distributed in only southern part of Satkhira, two clayey layers are distributed in almost all Satkhira and Kaliganj area. Second aquifer is divided into upper part and lower part. Second aquifer has different geological situation from place to place and characteristics of both shallow aquifer and deep aquifer. A risk of arsenic contamination in Second aquifer is assumed to be low toward south. Third aquifer is rarely confirmed on geological log due to become deeper in Kaliganj area, about 270-298m.

WEATHER AND CLIMATE: Weather and climate of the area is similar to the other coastal districts and regions. Temperature of this area shows high variation in months of the year. Maximum temperature recorded is around 30 C during summer; lowest is 16 C in winter. Humidity is moderate throughout the year. Wind flow varies during adverse environmental condition. Precipitation of the area varies within 290mm to 20mm. The overall climatic and weather condition of Kaliganj upazila can be described by the following table, Table: - The overall climatic condition of Kaliganj upazila. Parameters Mean Temperature Max Temperature Min Temperature Dew Point Average Humidity Maximum Humidity Minimum Humidity Precipitation Wind Speed Max Wind Speed Value 22 C 30 C 16 C 14 C 66% 88% 42% 140 mm 2 km/h 11 km/h

RESOURCES: Kaliganj Upazila is full of many significant amounts of resources. We use these resources in various ways for the growth and development of our society in various ways. Among these resources, these followings are some important ones: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Forest Resource Water Resource Land Resource Food Resource Energy Resource Mineral Resource

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FOREST RESOURCE: Kaliganj stands right beside the great Sundarban that is why the influence of the Sundarban is observed in the area. There are many common trees which are found in that area. For example:Mangifera indica, Albizia lucida , Syzygium cumini, Artocarpous heterophyllus, Samanea saman Anthrocephalus chinensis, Swietenia mahagoni, Zizyphys manuritiana, Bombax ceiba, Litchi chinensis, Brassica campestris, Cocos nucifera, Oryza sativa, Borassus fiabilliferetc. All of these can be considered as resources as they can be utilized in two ways Direct use of forest products are as followsThose can be directly consumed or used by humans. For example: Fruits: - Mango, Jackfruit, Berry, Lichi, Guava etc. Roots: - Discoria, potato etc. Medicine: - Basak (Adhatoda Vasica), Kalomegh (Andrographis aniculata), Shatomuli (Asparagus racemosus), Brahmi (Bacopa Moniera), Dhutura (Datura metel) etc. Fuelwood: - Many species of trees and shrubs Small timber for building huts, houses and Cottage industries. Bamboo and cane for breakfasts or building materials. Grass for grazing and small feeding livestock. Indirect Uses of the forest includes Building material for construction and furniture for urban and rural sector. Medicinal products collected and processed into drugs which can save many sick peoples. Gums and resins processed into a variety of products such as rubber, bands ,insulator, chemicals used as purifier, tanning agent etc. Raw material for industrial products and chemicals for example: - paper, pulp, juice, soft drinks, alcohols, particle board, thread etc.

WATER RESOURCE: Water resource is an important resource of the area. The local people use a huge volume of water in different ways. Cultivation of fish is the historical form of the use of water resource in the area. Especially shrimp and crab culture is very popular in kaliganj area. Some local people are feeling more and more interest in coastal aqua culture and salt cultivation. These two activities are playing significant role in the development of the financial and socioeconomic conditions of the surrounding area. Water is used in varies production industries as well as in agricultural activities. Besides their positive economic outcomes, many harmful effects and consequences are also experienced in the area. As a result of over exploitation the As contamination is increasing for the oxidation of arsenate and Arsenide minerals. So drinking water in that area is really a valuable resource. Sea water intrusion and the increased level of salinity is the very common problem that we face recently.

LAND RESOURCE: Landforms formed from the huge amount of alluvial sediments coming from Padma (Gangas) play important role in the development of the local social and economic conditions. This area is basically an agricultural land. Highly fertile land of the area like these is highly potential for the cultivation of paddy, jute, sugarcane etc. But with the increased use of salt culture, Crab culture and shrimp culture, the level of salt is increasing day by day. As a result, these highly potential and cultivable lands are losing their fertility. River bank erosion and due to deforestation process the upper fertile soil is eroding everyday causing low fertility.

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FOOD RESOURCE: This area provides us with valuable food resources from various sources. Among these sources, forest, agriculture, animal husbandry ad fishery are important. Due to agricultural and aquacultural improvement huge amounts of food are available now. Excess foods are now exported that is why the local people are economically improved.

ENERGY RESOURCE: Electricity is not available in every house. Most of the people use petroleum (Kerosene, diesel, petrol) products for energy consumption. The fuel woods are widely used for cooking purpose. The residues from agricultural activity, cow dung, feces are used for various parpouses.

MINERAL RESOURCE: The presence and extraction of mineral resource is very limited in the Kaliganj area. There is hardly any mineral resource to be found in the area. The presences of petroleum ad crude hydrocarbons are yet not discovered. This is mainly because of the nature of the sedimentation and stratigraphic succession pattern. This area is an example of recent alluvial sedimentation and its sedimentation stage is not matured yet. That is why the presence of any hydrocarbon or petroleum resource is not discovered so far.

ECOSYSTEMS: Biotic and abiotic compounds of a particular area consists the ecosystem. The components of an ecosystem can be described under the following three heads: 1. Producers (Autotrophic components), 2. Consumers, and 3. Decomposers or reducers and transformers Producers: - The producers are the autotrophs, chiefly green plants. The chemical energy is actually locked up in the energy rich carbon compounds. This is used in respiration by all living things. In Kaliganj Sundari and Gewa occur prominently throughout the area with discontinuous distribution of Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Kankra (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza). Among grasses and Palms, Poresia coaractata, Myriostachya wightiana, Mangifera indica, Albizia lucida , Syzygium cumini, Artocarpous heterophyllus, Samanea saman Anthrocephalus chinensis, Imperata cylindrica, Phragmites karka, Nypa fruticans are examples of producers. Consumers: - There are different classes or categories of consumers, such as, Primary consumers: - These are purely herbivorous animals that include Butterfly, moth, grasshoppers, ant, rodents, rabbit, deer, cow, monkey, buffalo, goat; Humans are some of the common herbivores in the terrestrial ecosystem, and small crustaceans, mollusks, etc. in the aquatic habitat. Secondary consumers: - These are carnivores and omnivores. Examples of secondary consumers are fox, sparrow, crow, fox, wolves, dogs, cats and wild cats, snakes and many reptiles, Humans etc. Tertiary consumer: - These are the top carnivores which prey upon other carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Tigers, hawk, vulture, Human etc. are considered as tertiary or top consumers. Decomposers: Decomposers and transformers are the components of the ecosystem which convert dead organic matters into simple nutrients and they are fungi and bacteria. These organic compounds into the inorganic forms those are suitable for reuse by producers or green plants. The

29

decomposers and transformers play very important role in maintaining the dynamic nature of ecosystems.

MAJOR TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS: Major Ecosystem can be classified as Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. There is both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem present in the Kaliganj upazila. The dominating aquatic ecosystem includes brackish water ecosystem. The geological position of the area and different natural calamity make the area slightly saline which is known as brackish environment. In the area different food chain interacts with each other and creates food webs. A simple food chain of aquatic environment in coastal area is shown in the figure bellow.

Figure: an aquatic food chain.

BIODIVERSITY: FLORA: - Major plant species found in this area are as followsLocal name Sundari Palms Blackberry Kadam Keora Paddy Sarisa Barai Coconut Scientific name Heritiera littoralis Poresia coaractata Syzygium cumini Anthrocephalus chinensis Sonneratia apetala Oryza sativa Brassica campestris Zizyphys manuritiana Cocos nucifera Local name Raintry kory Sil Koroi Tall Jackfruite Simul Mahagani Litchi Mango Golpata Scientific name Samanea saman Albizia lucida Borassus fiabillifer Artocarpous heterophyllus Bombax ceiba Swietenia mahagoni Litchi chinensis Mangifera indica Nypa fruticans

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FAUNA: - Among various animal species, these followings are significantName Cow Herring Gulls Monkey Brahminy Ducks Harriers Cotton Teals Name Dog Gray Herons Deer Crow Jungle Crows, Fox Name Pegion Caspian Terns Hen Spot-billed Pelicans Snakes Jungle Babblers Name Goat Red Junglefowls Common Mynahs Buffalo Jackle Spotted Doves

ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATIONS: POLLUTION The overall pollution in Kaliganj area is not as intense as the industrial areas such as Dhaka, Narsingdi etc. But the pollution that occurs can be classified as followings: Air Pollution Water Pollution Land Pollution AIR POLLUTION: Air pollution can be experienced by various ways and many natural as well as anthropogenic activities are responsible for the generation of air pollutants. Among the air pollutants these are identified: Dust and particulate matters from mills and factories due to production or incomplete burning of the organic matter. Automobile emission due to fossil fuel burning. The car, bus, troller emit huge amount of CO2, NO2, CO, SO2 which can damage the respiratory tract and cause irritation, asthma, infection etc. Gases produced from burning of wood, plant and biomass. There are many types and forms of secondary pollutants that are responsible for the generation of air pollution. The acid rain is a common type of secondary pollutants which produce H2SO4, HNO3, H2CO3 etc. WATER POLLUTION: Among different Point source and Non-point sources pollutants are responsible for water pollution. Among them the followings are most common: Disease causing agents such as virus, bacteria, protozoa etc. are some very common type of water pollutants. For example E. coli, Streptococcus etc. are some of them. High BOD due to discharging organic effluents in water. Due to acid rain and soil erosion soil nutrients wash away and in huge accumulation in water bodies it results eutrophication and algal bloom. Different fertilizer, pesticides used in agricultural lands can cause water pollution. Causing death of aquatic organisms. Different dissolved salts and acidic/alkaline substances can pollute the water.

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 Some toxic heavy metals also pollute the water such as As, Hg, Pb, Cr, etc.

LAND POLLUTION: Land of the area is historically very fertile. The practice of solid waste disposal over the land area pollutes the soil. The practice of over cultivation and application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are significantly reducing the fertility of the soil. Sometimes, many natural disasters such as cyclone, tsunami, storm surge, thunder storm etc. are responsible for the degradation of land resources. Change in the drainage pattern of the area is also causing harm to the fertility of the soil.

HAZARDS: STORM SURGE: -

A storm surge is a shoal-water process generated by tropical cyclones. It is defined as a super elevation of sea level due to a combination of wind-driven water and an uplift induced by the pressure drop. The sea level can rise to immense heights as a tropical cyclone center arrives at Coastal erosion is another serious problem that affects several countries of South Asia. During the monsoon the devastation is observed in Kaliganj upazila. ARSENIC CONTAMINATION: The Arsenic contamination is also very severe in this zone. Some of the tube well show significant amount of As, that is why some alternative way of drinking water must be found. Statistical observation shows that about 20-30% of the tubewells are affected by As contamination. Many Arsenicosis affected patients are encountered in the area. Most of them are suffering from Melanosis, Luco-Melanosis, Caratosis, and Hyper-Caratosis etc. SALINITY: Salinity is another problem that is acute in newly accreted lands. It renders the soil uncultivable. In the coastal belt, saline water has prevented irrigated agriculture in many places. Recently, frequent tidal bores have extended the area of affected land. Also, in the past decade and a half many damaging typhoons, with speeds up to 120 miles per hour, have occurred. TSUNAMIS: Tsunamis or seismic sea waves are often incorrectly called tidal waves. They are extremely destructive and present a serious natural hazard. They are relatively rare and usually confined to the Pacific Ocean basin. Tsunamis or seismic sea waves apparently originated when water is vertically displaced during large earthquakes or other phenomena. In open water the waves travel at speed as great as 800 km per hour and the wave height in deep water may be less than one meter but when the wave height enter shallow coastal water, then they slow to less than 60 km per hour and the wave height may increase to more than 15 meters. Damaged caused by Tsunamis or seismic sea waves is most severe at the water edge, boats, harbor, building, transport system may be destroyed. COASTAL EROSION: Compared to other natural hazards such as earthquakes, tropical cyclones, or floods, erosion of coasts is generally a continuous, predictable process that causes a relatively small amount of damage in a restricted area. Nevertheless, coastal erosion has caused and continues to cause property damage, and large sums of money are spent to control it. As extensive development of coastal areas for vacation and recreational living continues, problems of coastal erosion are certain to become a more serious threat to human use. In addition to wave erosion, processes that attack the sea cliff include biological erosion, weathering, rain-wash, landslides, and artificially induced erosion. Biological processes facilitate and directly

32

cause some erosion of the sea cliff; for example, coring mollusks, marine worms, and some sponges can destroy rock. Weathering is significant in wakening the rocks of the sea cliff and acts as an aid to erosion trees on the top of the sea cliff may have roots that penetrate the rock and wedge them apart; salt spray may enter the small holes and fractures and, as the water evaporates, the salt crystallizes, exerting pressure on the rock that weakens it and can break off small pieces, rain wash can cause a considerable amount of sea cliff erosion; however, the amount of erosion depends upon the nature and extent of the rainfall and the degradability of the rocks that make up the sea cliff. TROPICAL CYCLONES: The most serious coastal hazard is tropical cyclones, which are claim, many lives and causes numerous amounts of property damage every year. A tropical cyclone has taken hundreds of thousands of lives in a single storm. Tropical cyclones that struck the northern Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh in November of 1970 produced a 6-meter rise in the sea. Flooding killed more than 300000 people and destroyed many properties. Tropical cyclones, known as Typhoon in most of the Pacific Ocean and Hurricane in the western Hemisphere cause damage and destruction from high winds flooding that results from intense precipitation and usually causes more deaths and destruction than wind; and storm surges (wind driven by sea water) that are most lethal aspects of tropical cyclones. Most Hurricanes form in a belt between 8 north and 15 south of the equator and the area most likely to experience cyclones in this zone are those with warm surface-water temperature. The storms are generated as tropical disturbance and despite as they move over the land. Wind speed of these storms is greater than 100 km per hour, and the winds blow in large spiral around a relatively calm center called the eye of the Hurricane.

AILA THE NIGHTMARE

Aila, category 1 cyclone, hit South-Western coastal region of Bangladesh on 25 May 2009. The cyclone took shape on 23 May and dissipated on 25 May 2009 in the coastal region of Bangladesh. The sustained wind speed of the Cyclone Aila was about 65-75 mph and thus it is defined as the category-1 cyclone (74 mph is the lowest threshold for Cat-1 hurricane). Even though Aila was a weak category cyclone by the definition, its economic cost outweighs the impacts of Super cyclone Sidr and brought in long-term sufferings for the southwestern people of Bangladesh. About 2.3 million people were affected by Aila and many of them stranded in flooded villages as they had no alternative to save themselves.

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GENESIS:Southwest monsoon set in over Andaman Sea and adjoining south Bay of Bengal on 20th May 2009. Under its influence, the southerly surge over the region increased. It resulted in increase in the horizontal pressure gradient and the north south wind gradient over the region. Hence the lower level horizontal convergence and relative vorticity increased gradually over the southeast Bay of Bengal. It led to the development of the upper air cyclonic circulation extending up to mid tropospheric level on 21st May over the southeast Bay of Bengal and associated convective cloud clusters persisted over the region. The system could gain upper level divergence as the upper tropospheric ridge roughly ran along 17. In association with an anti-cyclonic circulation located near latitude 17 N and longitude 94E. The quick scat derived wind speed was about 10-15 knots on 21st and 22nd. It became 15-20 knots on 23rd. Under the favorable conditions, the depression moved mainly in a northerly direction and intensified into a deep depression and lay centered at 830 hours IST of 24th near 18.0N and 88.5E. It further intensified into a cyclonic storm AILA at 1730 hours IST of 24th May and lay centered near 18.5N and 88.5E.

AILA IMPACTS ON SATKHIRA DISTRICT: Among the affected districts, Satkhira receives the highest amount of impacts in its infrastructures including educational institutions, religious institutions, roads, bridges, embankments etc. The study reveals that 734 institutions were damaged fully or partially. The adverse impacts of Aila were observed in 7 Upazilas and 48 unions of Satkhira District. However, Shyamnagar and Ashasuni are the most affected Upazila as reported by the local source and available data. The study reveals that more than fifty thousand people have been adversely affected by Aila flooding. On the other hand, total damaged cropland is about 1250 ha. Moreover, 59 people died and 1509 injured during Aila. Ailas impact on infrastructure also presents devastating scenario. 734 educational institutions including the religious institutions, 329.25 km roads, 41 bridges or culverts, 292.42 km embankment and 26028 ha shrimp farm (gher) were fully or partially damaged. Besides these, more than thirty thousand people positioned themselves on the embankment at Gabura and Padmopukur, as they did not get any safe place for their immediate shelter during the disaster. Table 1 and 2 showing description of the damage in Satkhira District. Table 1: Damage information of Satkhira District Description Satkhira District Affected union (no.) Affected population Affected family People died People injured Full Damaged households (no.) Damaged croplands (ha) 106325 812 Damage information Affected total upazila =7 Very high=10, high=20, partial=48 569810 132544 59 1509 Partial 49195 453 Total 155520 1265

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Damaged education Institutes and temples (no.) Roads (km) Bridge/culvert/closure (no.) Embankment (km) Shrimp farm (ha)

136 179.75 41 35.9 26028

598 149.5 256.52

734 329.5 41 292.42

Source: District damage assessment report, as of 22-07-2009. Table 2: Summary of the damaged infrastructure in Satkhira District Damage description Upazila Edu. Ins. and temples (no.) full Shyamnagar Ashasuni Kaliganj Sadar Debhata Kolaroya Tala Total 10 33 2 0 62 28 1 136 partial 141 7 147 90 114 40 59 598 0 0 0 25 179.75 full 99.75 55 partial 23.5 36 64 16 0 0 10 149.5 41 41 Road (km) Bridge/ culvert (no.) full 26.18 3.6 0.32 0.3 0.5 0 5 35.9 partial 111 75.67 32 13.85 14 0 10 256.52 Total 33950 Cyclone shelter: Gabura=3000 (5) Padmopukur=29 50 (6) Embankment: Gabura=13000 Padmopukur=15 000 Embankment (km) People took Shelter

Source: District Commissioner Office, Satkhira

INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGES AT SHYAMNAGAR UPAZILA:

30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

Affected population at different unions of Shyamnagar Upazila

Very high High Partial

Source: Upazila Nirbahi Office, Shyamnagar

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Shayamnagar is the perfect epitome of Aila ravage as it was most vehemently seized with Aila attack. Besides the accounted damage, a large number of households and small infrastructures were damaged. In Gabura and Padmapukur union, more than 34 thousand people became homeless and among them 6 thousand people are still living in the nearby cyclone shelter and the rest 28 thousand are staying in makeshift tents or under the open sky on embankments. Household damage statistics estimates that about 160432 people were adversely affected, where 104227, 22865 and 33340 people were very highly affected, highly affected and partly affected respectively.

IMPACT OF AILA ON AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK: The vast majority of the population of Shyamnagar is engaged with agriculture and fisheriesand it is evident from the BBS (2001) statistics which estimates that about 64.98% households in this upazila depend on agriculture including 38.16% on cropping, livestock, forestry and fishery, and 26.82% on selling agricultural labor. But after Aila attack, all the agricultural and associated livelihood activities were disrupted through damaging all agricultural settings in the region. In Shyamnagar upazila total 194 ha of crop land was fully damaged by Aila which worth an estimated cost of 2.4 million BDT. Moreover, Aila incurred loss of about 550 million BDT in shrimp sector. PRESENT SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION IN AILA AFFECTED AREAS: After one year of Aila attack, the situation of the Aila affected areas is still with much adversity and gradually it is aggravating. Till now local people are struggling to get access to food, pure drinking water and shelter. Majority of the affected people are staying on the embankments in makeshift tents as their living places are still under water. Some of their agricultural land is still under water or have become barren from saline water intrusion. Sanitation and health care facilities have become scarce. A number of schools or other educational institutions still remain closed and dropout rate is alarmingly on the rise. It is importantly noticeable that woman and children are the most vulnerable under this inhuman situation. LIVELIHOOD: Shrimp farming is one of the major occupations in South-western coastal region of Bangladesh. Aila affected region also follows similar occupational pattern and shrimp farming alone constitutes 40% of the total occupation. Rest of the employed people an engaged with small holding agriculture (30%) and wage labour activities (30%). However, the study reveals that 96% of the livelihood bases were devastated by Aila. Most unfortunate thing is that till now most of the affected people could not be able to recover the damages. More than 80% of the respondents in all the three study areas are struggling to maintain a subsistence living. The most affected segment of the livelihood is agriculture and as almost all the productive agriculture land went under saline water and consequently those farmers became workless. AGRICULTURE AND VEGETATION: In the study areas almost all the agriculture land (>90%) and homestead gardens (>70%) were flooded and 70% of the green vegetation were damaged. Most of the water sensitive fruit trees and vegetables died due to water logging. Only some Palme and Xerophitic species still survive. LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY: Livestock and poultry are also important economic resources for the Aila affected area. In Shyamnagar 85% respondents said that Aila damaged their 80% livestock resources. However, this percentage was higher at Gabura (93%) and Padmopukur (95%) unions of the same upazila in respect of the average damage. On the other hand, in Koyra and Dacope, Aila damaged 75% livestock and poultry resources which significantly have reduced their farm income. The livestock

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and poultry death is continuing even after Aila due to food and drinking water shortage. Now most of the houses are devoid of livestock and poultry resources in the affected area and many farmers are selling their remaining livestock as they cannot provide them with adequate food and drinking water. HOUSEHOLD RELOCATION: Even after one year of Aila dissipation, only 30% families have been able to repair or reconstruct their houses. However, the relocated houses are mostly temporary and made of plastic sheets and bamboo which is demonstrating their financial and structural inability to reconstruct durable brick built or wooden houses. These houses are at risk of further structural damage even with an 80 km speed wind. Majority of the Aila affected people in the study areas were forced to relocate their houses in embankments or raised land due to abolition of their houses by tidal surge and subsequent water logging. Regrettably, even after one year of Aila, 70% families are still living on the embankment in makeshift tents at different sites of the Shyamnagar, Koyra (Uttar Bedkashi and Dakshin Bedkashi) and Dacope (Sutarkhali, Kamarkhola) upazila. Results indicate that the 95% (highest) Aila affected family were forced to relocate their households at Dakshin Bedkashi union and 80% at Padmopukur unions. Besides, 89%, 84%, 87% and 83% family relocated their households at Gabura, Sutarkhali, Uttar Bedkashi and Kamarkhola union, respectively. DRINKING WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION: The people of the study area received the highest amount of sufferings from drinking water shortage and destruction of sanitation facilities soon after Aila attack. However, still the affected people are suffering from shortage of pure drinking water, which is evident from all respondents response and physical visit to the area. Water supply and sanitation coverage was about 50-60% before Aila. However, Aila devastated all the drinking water sources (ponds and tube wells). During Aila, high tidal surges contaminated all fresh water sources with polluted saline water. Many people are compelled to drink such polluted water as they do not have any other option and consequently suffer from water borne diseases such as allergy, skin diseases, cholera and diarrhea. Currently, for curative measures affected peoples medical cost has increased by 55%. FOOD AND NUTRITION INTAKE: It is found that almost all the people in the affected area are now taking food irregularly. All the respondents in the study areas used to take food 3 times a day before Aila. However, Aila reversed the situation and now many people have to content with 1 time food intake or hardly 2 times in a day. Reportedly, 4 people including 1 child died in Koyra due to starvation or taking poisonous food. In Shyamnagar, Koyra and Dacope area respectively 93%, 96% and 98% respondents said that after Aila they are still with insufficient food and so, suffering from malnutrition. About 75% respondents identified reduced family income as the major cause of their insufficient food taking. On the other hand, 25% respondents blamed increase of the food prices as the primary cause. MIGRATION: Aila resulted into significant migration from the affected areas of Satkhira and Khulna district. The study reveals that 20%, 18% and 15% families have already been migrated from Koyra, Dacope and Shyamnagar respectively. Most of them have migrated to Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Borishal, Potuakhali, Gopalganj, Faridpur, Jessore and Narail. About 55% respondents estimated that a large number of families (about 10%) are now living in the nearby city areas; but they temporarily return for getting relief, when it is distributed. Our study reveals that from Koyra about 1200 families have permanently migrated, whereas from Dacope and Shyamnagar these numbers are about 800

37

and 1300 respectively. Most of people have migrated to Khulna, Satkhira, Rangamati, Dumuria, Doulatpur, Jessore and Kesobpur areas for looking jobs. Some people have also migrated to West Bengal of India in search of jobs. Where as, about 3000, 1500 and 1300 families have migrated temporarily from Shyamnagar, Koyra and Dacope. RECOMMENDATIONS: Even after one year of Aila attack, people of the affected areas are still suffering from insufficient food, water, shelter and sanitation facilities. It is, therefore, of utmost importance to ensure at least subsistence living requirements to the affected people. The study identifies drinking water scarcity as the major problem of the affected area. Therefore, a sufficient number of tube-well should be erected through a soft loan scheme or nonrefundable donation. NGOs can help the local communities to pump-out saline water from the affected pond. Alternatively, Pond Sand Filter (PSF) could be introduced to the affected area. As most of the agricultural land is still submerged under water, floating agriculture system with short rotation crop species should be introduced without any delay. Moreover, saline and water resistant seed should be provided to the farmers with free of cost to cultivate saline contaminated land. Since the entire livelihood option in the affected area was destroyed by Aila and the affected people became workless, employment generating activities such as food for work, small scale Entrepreneurship should be run with equitable and fair representation of all affected people. Moreover, alternative livelihood opportunities should be created by using locally available natural resources. In long term, small scale job opportunities may be introduced from the local investors, government and NGOs. Training on craft, tailoring, poultry and fish feed firming, ice factory, umbrellas bat factory, match factory, cold storage and other small and medium scale industries may be introduced to alleviate the poverty and reduce vulnerability of the local people. Damaged embankments and communication system should be repaired, and where necessary reconstructed, as priority basis to protect the affected area from further flooding and tidal surges. Height of the embankments should be increased together with proper afforestation with suitable tree species at both sides of the embankments. The relief programmer should be run through ensuring equity and in a well-coordinated way until the affected people can recover their damage. Governments VGF programmer should focus the affected area as priority area. Moreover, monitoring of the relief distribution activities should be enhanced through the public participation and resources mobilization. Since most of the people have become homeless and are still living in temporary makeshift tents in embankments and other areas, NGOs and different financial institutions can provide local people with long term low interest or no interest loan to reconstruct their houses. Collaboration among organizations (GOs and NGOs) and the local community should be ensured to reduce vulnerabilities of the local people. Disaster preparedness programmer should focus awareness and capacity building of the local people to increase their adaptive capacity in facing different natural calamities. At present, number of cyclone shelter is not enough to protect maximum number of people at the study sites. Therefore, sufficient number of cyclone shelters should be constructed at the sites before any other cyclone attack.

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THE SUNDARBANS
LOCATION: Mangroves (generally) are trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses: 1. Most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are used 2. To refer to all trees and large shrubs in the mangal 3. Narrowly, to refer to the mangrove family of plants, the Rhizophoraceae, or even more specifically just to mangrove trees of the genus Rhizophora According to these facts the Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world, which lies at the mouth of the Ganges and is spread across areas of Bangladesh (southern part) and West Bengal, India, forming the seaward fringe of the delta. The forest lies a little south to the Tropic of Cancer between the latitudes 2130N and 2230 'N, and longitudes 8900 and 8955E.

GEOGRAPHY:
The total area of Sundarban is about 19,500 sq km & Bangladesh covers about 6017 sq km, of which about 1,874 sq km is occupied by water bodies.

Figure: - Sundarbans of Bangladesh. Another study says the total area of the Sundarbans in Bangladesh and India is 10 thousand square kilometers of which the Bangladesh portion is 5 thousand 772.85 square kilometers. 70% of the Sundarbans is forested. The 30% consists of rivers, canals and creeks. This forest is 44% of the total forest of Bangladesh. To the north of the Sundarbans are Shyamnagar in Satkhira district Koira and Dahape in Khulna district and Mongla, Morelganj, and Sarankhola in Bagerhat district. To the south is the Bay of

39

Bengal. The western border follows the Raimangal- Harinbhahga Rivers, which also forms the international boundary with India. To the east lies the Baleswar River and Meghna estuary.

GEOLOGY: The tract of the Sundarbans is of recent origin, raised by the deposition of sediments formed due to soil erosion in the Himalayas. The process has been accelerated by tides from the sea face. The substratum consists mainly of Quaternary Era sediments, sand and silt mixed with marine salt deposits and clay. Geologists have detected a southeastern slope and tilting of the Bengal basin during the Tertiary. Because of neo-tectonic movements during the 10th-12th century AD, the Bengal Basin titled eastward. Evidence from borehole studies indicate that while the western side of the Sundarbans is relatively stable, the southeastern corner is an active sedimentary area and is subsiding.

Figure: - Floodplains of Sundarbans

PHYSIOGRAPHY: The forest along the Bay of Bengal has evolved over the millennia through natural deposition of upstream sediments accompanied by intertidal segregation. The physiography is dominated by deltaic formations that include innumerable drainage lines associated with surface and subaqueous levees, splays and tidal flats. There are also marginal marshes above mean tide level, tidal sandbars and islands with their networks of tidal channels, subaqueous distal bars and proto-delta clays and silt sediments. The Sundarbans' floor varies from 0.9 m to 2.11 m above sea level. In south, there is evidently the greatest seasonal variation in salinity levels and possibly represents an area of relatively longer duration of moderate salinity. In the west, areas are supported by drier ground and river banks and levees.

SOIL: Soils of the Sundarbans mangrove forest differ from other inland soils in that they are subjected to the effects of salinity and water logging, which naturally affect the vegetation. In places soils are semi-solid and poorly consolidated. The pH ranges widely from 5.3 to 8.0. Although the Sundarbans soil is in general medium textured, sandy loam, silt loam or clay loam, the grain size distribution is highly variable. Silt loam is dominant textural class. Sodium and calcium contents of the soil vary from 5.7 to 29.8 mq/100g dry soil and are generally low in the eastern region and higher towards the west. The available potassium content of the soil is low, 0.3-1.3 mg/100gm dry soil. Organic matter

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content varies between 4% and 10% in dry soil. Soil salinity increases from east (slight to moderate) to west (highly saline), but the salinity is not uniform from north to south throughout the forest.

CLIMATE: Since the forest is located on the south of the Tropic of Cancer and bounded by the northern limits of the Bay of Bengal, it is classified as tropical moist forest. Rainfall is heavy and humidity high (80%) due to the proximity of the Bay of Bengal. About 80% of the rain fall in the monsoon, this lasts from June to October. Mean annual rainfall varies from about 1,800mm at Khulna, north of the Sundarbans, to 2,790mm on the coast. There is a six-month dry season during which evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation. Conditions are most saline in February-April; the depletion of soil moisture being coupled with reduced freshwater flow from upstream. The average annual maximum and minimum temperatures vary between 30 and 21C. High temperatures occur from mid-March to mid-June and low in December and January. The mean maximum temperature for the hottest months has been recorded as 32.4C at Patuakhali, in the east of the Sundarbans. Temperatures rise from daily minima of 2-4C in winter to a maximum of about 43C in March and may exceed 32C in the monsoon. Storms are common in May and OctoberNovember and may develop into cyclones, usually accompanied by tidal waves of up to 7.5m high (Seidensticker and Hai, 1983).

MAJOR RIVER SYSTEM: The rivers and canals spread like net across the forest with innumerable branches. Nearly 450 large & small rivers occupy about 175685 hectares or about 30% of the Sundarbans. The biggest is the Pusur, Other worth mentioned are, Baleswar, Sibsa, Arpangasia, BhoJa, Harinbhahga, Kalindi, Andharmanik, Raimangal, Kapothaksha, Koira, Shela Bhadra etc. The Harinbhahga & Baleswar are in the east of the forest. The south-east on eastern border of Satkhira district is the Arpangasia and Kapothaksha rivers. Raimangal & Harinbhahga are the biggest river of western border of Sundarban. The rivers are widening to the south. Pusur, Baleswar &their tributaries & distributaries are connected with Ganges. So their flow is of sweet water. But rivers of western part are dependent on rain forest for sweet water source. As a result they suffer from salinity in the dry season. But the overall river condition of Sundarban is deteriorating. Shoals are forming and navigability is declining. River erosion is taking place at some places.

BIODIVERSITY
FLORAL COMPOSITION: The mangroves of the Sundarbans are unique when compared to non-deltaic coastal mangrove forest. Unlike the later, the Rhizophoraceae are of only minor importance and the dominant species are Sundari (Heritiera fames), from which the Sundarbans takes its name, and Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha). The reason for this difference is the large freshwater influence in the north-eastern part and the elevated level of the ground surface. The Sundarbans can be classified as moist tropical serai forest, comprising a mosaic of beach forest and tidal forest (Champion, 1936). Of the later, they are four types: Low mangrove forests Tree mangrove forests Salt-water Heritiera forests

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FRESHWATER HERITIERA FORESTS: -

The vegetation is largely of mangrove type and encompasses a variety of plants including trees, shrubs, grasses, epiphytes, and lianas. Being mostly evergreen, they possess more or less similar physiological and structural adaptations. Prain (1903) gives an account of the flora of the mangrove forest of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta & Seidensticker and Hai (1983) report a total of 334 plant species, representing 245 genera, present in the Bangladesh portion of the delta, and principal woody and herbaceous species. Of these Pteridophytes -17 Monocotyledons -87 Dicotyledons -rest Almost all mangrove plant species are evergreen, dwarf, shrubby or tall trees, and grow gregariously without leaving any space on the floor. Most trees have pneumatophores for aerial respiration. The prominent species is Sundari (Heritiera fomes) and Gewa (Excoecaria agallocha). In the Sundarbans the saltwater forest is situated in the south-western part where Gewa (E. agallocha), Goran (Ceriops decandra), Keora (Sonneratia apetala), Ora (S. caseolaris), Passur (Xylocarpus mekongensis), Dhundul (X granatum), Bain (A vicennia alba, A. marina, A. officinales), rhizophores, Banchandan, Hijal, Bhatkathi, Amur, Hudo, Shingra, Bhadal, Khalsha, Hingey, and Hantal (Phoenix pelludosa) dominate. The typical mangrove species dominate the central part of the forest. The moderate saltwater forest covers most of the southern parts of Khulna and Bagerhat districts where Sundari is the dominant species. There is a thick mat of the NIPA PALM or 'Golpata' (Nipa fruticans) by the side of almost all the canals. Moderately freshwater zone results from the large amount of water, which flows down the Passur, Haringhata and Burisher, maintaining the surface water at a lower level of salinity.

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TABLE: MAJOR FLORAL SPECIES OF SUNDARBAN

GENERAL NAME
Sundari Gewa Goran Golpata Keora Passur Dhundul Bain rhizophores Hantal Ora FAUNAL COMPOSITION: -

SCIENTIFIC NAME
Heritiera fomes E agallocha Ceriops decandra Nipa fruticans Sonneratia apetala Xylocarpus mekongensis X. granatum Avicennia alba, A. marina, A. officinales Rizophoraceae Phoenix pelludosa S. caseolaris

Over the last 100 years or so, due to habitat degradation and ecological changes, the faunal compositions in Indian Sundarbans have undergone changes. Some animals of Sundarbans became extinct during the last two centuries like Javan Rhino, Wild buffalo, Swamp deer and barking deer. Sundarban mangrove forest is the single largest home of the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris). The Sundarbans and the Royal Bengal Tiger are almost synonymous. But with the passing time the number of tigers in the Sundarbans is diminishing at an alarming rate. The number will be 450 but experts believe that it is more or less 200. According to different sources, there are 375 species of wild animals in the Sundarbans. Of them, 10 are amphibians, 63 are reptiles, 261 are birds, and 41 are mammals and 175 fish species. Different governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the forest department, are claiming that there are 200 crocodiles, 80 thousand deer, 20 thousand boars, 40 thousand monkeys, 20 thousand otters, more than 50 thousand birds and snakes including pythons. Among 175 species of fish 53 of pelagic belong to 27 families, 124 of demersal belongs to 49 families, 24 shrimps of 5 families. Besides, 7 species of crab from 3 families, 2 of gastropods, 6 of pelecypod, 8 of locust lobster & 3 species of turtle. This forest harbors a good number of rare and globally threatened animals including Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodilus porosus), Fishing Cat (Felts viverrina), Common otter (Lutra littra), Water Monitor lizard (Varanus saJvatoi), Gangetic Dolphin (Platinista gangetica), Snubfin dolphin (Orcella brevirostris), River Terrapin (Batagur baska ), marine turtles like Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill Turtle (Eritmochelys imbricat). Six species of Shark and Ray, which are found here, are included in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act. Other mammals comprise of Wild boars, spotted deer, Porcupines and Rhesus macaque. Among the reptiles, the King cobra, the common cobra, Banded krait, Russells Viper comprise the community of venomous reptiles, while the Python, Chequered Kil-Back, Dhaman , Green Whip Snake and several other species constitute the non-venomous snakes. The common bird species consists of Herons,

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Egrets, Cormorants, Storks, Green Pigeons, Sand Pipers, Large and Small Spoonbills, Darters, Seagulls, Teal, Partridges, great variety of Wild Geese and Ducks. Cetaceans like Snubfin and Gangetic Dolphin are frequently found in the estuarine rivers, the former being more abundant. The Black Finless Porpoise {Necmeris porosus) is also found in the rivers near the estuary. The marshes and river offer asylum to the Estuarine Crocodile, one of the most endangered and the largest of crocodiles. A wide variety and assortments of fish, molluscs, crabs and prawns inhabit the estuaries. The amphibious mud-skipper fish such as Periopthalmus sp. and Boleopthalmus sp. arouse considerable interest. Also found are Whale Shark, Tiger Shark, Hammer Headed Shark, Saw fish, Guitar fish and some common edible fish e.g., Hilsa ilt'sha, Setipinna breviceps, Setipinna taty, Gudusia chapra etc. Among the crustaceans, commonly found are the One Asmed Fiddler Crab (Uca spp) and the two species of trilobite (Tachypleus gigus and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda). The latter is also known as the Horse Shoe Crab, which is known as a hving fossil and needs serious protection owing to its medicinal value and uncontrolled collection by quack doctors for commercial purpose. Insects abound in the forests amongst which the honey bee {Apis dorssta) is a source of considerable income for the poor people living in fringe areas.

RESOURCES: Sundarban itself a greatest resource as it serves as a habitat for numerous floral & faunal species. Besides, the resources of the Sundarbans ecosystem include timber wood, fuel wood and non-wood forest produce, wildlife and aquatic fauna. TIMBER WOOD: It is an important source of forest revenue and adding fuel wood it contributes over 80% of the income generated by the Sundarbans. A number of industries like former Khulna Newsprint Mill, Khulna Hardboard Mill, match factories, saw mills, boat mills etc. are greatly depend on the Sundarbans for the supply of raw materials. NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTIONS: This term generally implies to all renewable and tangible products other than timber, fuel wood, charcoal derived from forest excluding wood, timber in particular. In the Sundarbans about 85% people who have access to the forest are connected with the harvest of non-wood produce. FUEL WOOD: The Sundarbans is an important source of fuel wood for the local population as well as for distant markets. Species used fuel wood mainly comprises Ceriops decandra, Cynometra ramiflora, Lumnitzera racemosa, Amoora cucullata and Hibiscus tiliceous which thrive in the under story of the forest. Woods are also obtained from the tallest trees. RURAL HOUSEHOLD MATERIALS: Laves of Nypa fruticans are used extensively as thatching and partition material for the construction of huts in the coastal areas. They are once in a year. Phoenix paludosa is the other useful species of the family palmae; the stems are used as house posts and rafters. HONEY & WAX: Honey and wax are harvested yearly. The honeybee produces them. Approximately 150,000kg honey and 40,000kg of wax are harvested between April and June annually.

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PROBLEMS AND HAZARDS

The Sundarbans is a highly dynamic ecosystem. Natural resources are being tapped from since time immemorial. Although the ecosystem is under scientific management for over 100 years, harvesting could not be properly regulated due to demand of the people and illicit removal of the forest produces. Besides, the environmental condition of the forest area is under constant change. These have posed serious threat to sustainable management of the Sundarbans. The forest is encountered with a number of problems affecting its overall productivity. OVER EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES: There has been over-exploitation of the forest resource possibly due to faulty estimate of volume increment as well as heavy illicit removal of forest produce. Canopy closure has decreased steadily over the past several decades. Standing volume of the dominant tree species has drastically declined. GEO-MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES: Erosion and compensatory accretion is occurring continuously along the banks of all large rivers, but the rivers in the Sundarbans are more stable than the main streams of the Gages or the Brahmaputra, further east. When there are riverbanks cause's disappearances of matured and valuable stands, in other words losses of forest cover. On newly formed accretions, it takes time to develop forest crops, particularly those of commercial value that appear at the later stages of succession. Deposition of silt is another important fact. Silt deposition is low in the western part of the forest; the forest floor is compacted and does not support vigorous tree growth. Again too much deposition of silt in the northeastern part of the forest poses treat to the experience and continuity of mangrove vegetation. SALINITY INCREASE: Generally the members of the family Rhizophoraceae are the climax species of the mangrove forests. However, in Sundarbans H. fames is the climax species possibly due to its preference for low level salinity. Due to increase in salinity H. fames is no longer common in the Indian Sundarbans. The forest does not support healthy stands of this anymore and natural regeneration of sundari (H. fames) is also unsatisfactory. The dam of Farakka is a reason for the rising of the salinity. The commercially important species of the Sundarbans have preference for different levels of salinity for survival, distribution, reproduction and optimal growth. Naturally, any change in the level of salinity will affect the standing vegetation, the distribution and productivity of the entire ecosystem. REGENERATION PROBLEMS: Plenty of seeding species appear every year on the forest floor. However, recruitment density varied considerably in different parts of the forests. Further, most of the seedlings disappear soon from the forest floor. Even 5% of the recruited seedlings did not survive after a period of 33 months. Failure of the seedlings to survive and establish is a great problem. LOW YIELD OF WOOD: The yield of Sundarbans is low in terms of wood production. The average yield was 1.12m3/ha/year, 1984. But the yield of the well-managed mangrove in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia is above 6m3/ha/year.

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DECLINE OF STOCKING: Merchantable growing stock of H. fames and E. agallocha was depleted by 40% and 45% respectively between 1959 and 1983. Depletion of standing volume is the result of over-cutting which may be due to overestimate of past increment. EROSION AND ACCRETION: Erosion and compensatory accretion are quite common in the Sundarbans. Many stable lands supporting rich, healthy valuable matured stands disappear due to the riverbanks. It may be possible to harvest only mature trees. But future expected yield from the young trees and regeneration will not be available.

MANAGEMENT ISSUES
One of the most beautiful creations of nature, Sundarban is now losing its beauty extensively for several anthropogenic and natural causes. Since, many projects & plan has been taken to preserve the forest though not very sufficient. However, some initiatives that may be taken to preserve the forest are presented below: Sundarbans Conservation and Management Plan should be taken 8c applied actively. Floral & faunal census should be taken up immediately along with provisions for continuous monitoring; There should be a National Committee for biodiversity Conservation including experts from multisectoral disciplines to give advice and monitor conservation activities; A continuous monitoring system of tiger& other animal populations (status, trend, breeding, feeding and human casualties, etc.) should be developed. National Committee for Conservation of Tiger; Departments of Zoology and Environment in local universities, NGOs and public may participate in the monitoring system; The entire Sundarbans should be declared as Tiger Reserve with controlled and wellcoordinated human activities allowed. The present sanctuaries should be expanded and corridors allowed; An integrated study of animals and their habitat should be taken up; Concept of Floating Conservation Zone may be taken up to ensure smooth and undisturbed movement of animals in marine and costal environment during development activities such as mineral exploration and transportation on shore or off shore; Wildlife Sanctuaries should be off limit to human activities or commercial exploration. Floating off limit zone concept may be applied to the present sanctuaries on a selective basis to allow regeneration of forest and undisturbed breeding by seasonal or annual closing down of sanctuaries by rotation; Shrimp cultivation should be brought under control. Hatcheries should be promoted and properly guided so that fish resources can regenerate. The incidents of fishing inside Sundarbans with cyanide or other poisonous chemicals should be investigated and stopped; Legal reforms and measures should be taken up to stop killing of tiger as man eater and deer shooting and to improve the law and order situation inside the forest and offshore; Strict legal action should be taken against wood mugger & Poachers and proper managing & monitoring committee to prevent wood & forest destruction & wood smuggling. Controlled eco-tourism only should be allowed;

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 Control oil spill, oil pollution and other land and sea bases pollution; Exploration of the Sundarbans as source of revenue collection should be compared to biodiversity loss and cost of Sundarbans afforestation; People who depend on the Sundarbans for their survival should be rehabilitated; educated and provided with credit. The extent of their exploration and exploitation of forest products by private business should be studied and controlled;

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CONCLUSION
From the available literature review and printed documents so far studied, we may conclude that Satkhira is an important South-western district of Bangladesh under Khulna Division. Geoenvironmentally it plays significant role in the country. People of Satkhira area are mainly farmers. The main crops of this region include Paddy, jute, sugarcane, mustard seed, potato, and onion and betel leaf. Coastal aqua culture or shrimp culture is getting popularity day by day as it provides more benefit to the farmer. Saline environment is necessary for coastal aqua culture. For this reason farmers are using a huge amount of crude salt in their fields which in reply playing significant role in the sea water intrusion problem. This is highly hazardous for the environment and causes great damage to the fertility of the soil. Besides coastal aqua culture a significant amount of people are involved in salt cultivation in the area. The amount of cultivable agricultural land is becoming smaller day by day at an alarming rate. More and more of them are getting involved in coastal aqua culture or urbanization. The rate of urbanization is relatively slow here though many people are developing their socio-economic conditions by shrimp and high yield fish culture Rate of literacy is extremely low in this area. Statistics show that rate of literacy for male is 39.7% while it is only 21% for females. The pattern of using hygienic latrine in the common people is extremely poor. People of this area have no interest in constructing hygienic sanitary latrine as it involves in some extra expenditures. In reply they prefer to use open latrine or no latrine at all. Farmers of this region use a huge amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. By the washout of the residue of these hazardous chemical substances, water quality of the surrounding area is highly spoiled. As a result, local water bodies are becoming fishless. Once there were plenty of fishes in the water body of the area but the amount of fish is decreasing due to over-exploitation Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest that contains a huge amount of biodiversity. But due to over exploitation and killing of local species is becoming a great threat in the way of existence of many endangered species. Proper care is necessary to be undertaken to avoid such unexpected extinction of valuable biodiversity. Many people are dependent on Sundarbans for their livelihood. For their own betterment, they should use forest resources sustainably. Arsenic is a great problem in the surrounding area. Groundwater of this area is greatly contaminated with arsenic. Use of water containing arsenic above a typical value for an extended period may result in serious health hazard. Sundarbans is famous for its appeal in tourism and every year a huge number of tourists come to visit here. But transportation system is not that much good. By developing our transportation system, we can encourage more and more tourists and thus we can earn more and more money. Plantation of economically beneficial plants is causing a great harm to the natural vegetation and natural species.

REFERENCE
PUBLICATIONS: Erach Bharucha, Textbook of Environmental Studies, Universities Press-India. Md. Golam Mahabub Sarwar, Impacts of Sea Level Rise on the Coastal Zone of Bangladesh, Lund University Agrawala, S., Ota, T., Ahmed, A.U., Smoth, J., Aalst, M.V., 2003. Development and Climate Change in Bangladesh: Focus on Coastal Flooding and the Sundarbans, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris Alam, M., 2003. Bangladesh Country Case Study, National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) Workshop, 9-11 September 2003, Bhutan. Ali, A.M.S., 2005. Rice to shrimp: Land use/ land cover changes and soil degradation in Southwestern Bangladesh, Land Use Policy [Inpress] Brammer, H., Asaduzzaman M. & Sultana, P., 1993. Effects of Climate and Sea-level Changes on the Natural Resources of Bangladesh. Briefing Ducument No. 3, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP), Dhaka. Chowdhury, A., 1998. Disasters: Issues and Responses, In: Gain, P. (Ed.), Bangladesh Environment: Facing 21st Century, SEHD, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Rabbiosi, L., 2003. Bangladesh enlarges Sundarbans Ramsar site, Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Gland, Switzerland, Retrieved on 10 Sept. 2005 from http://www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.bangladesh_sundarbans.htm Chowdhury K. Rezaul et al., Southeast Coastal Belt Study, COAST Trust, 1999. Integrated Coastal Zone Management of the Government of Bangladesh; Report on Coastal Livelihoods June 2003 Kausher A, Kay RC, Asaduzzaman M. and Paul S. Climate change and sea-level rise: the case of the Bangladesh coast. In The implications of climate change and sea-level change for Bangladesh (eds. R.A. Warrick and Q.K. Ahmed), Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1996, (335396 pp.). IUCN (1994). Mangroves of the Sundarbans. Volume 2: Bangladesh. The IUCN Wetlands Programme. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Etc.

WEB RESOURCES: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sundarbans http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/satkhira http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/shyamnagar_upazila http://www.bdix.net/sdnbd_org/world_env_day/2004/bangladesh/climate_change_sealeve l.htm http://www.m-h-s.org/stiftung/upload/download/pdf/zockler_1.Pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Aila http://www.banglapedia.net/HT/S_0602.HTM http://www.sundarbantigerproject.info/viewpage.php?page_id=3 http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/im/im1406_full.html

Questionnaire Survey
On
STUDY ON GEO-ENVIRONMENTAL & BIOLOGICAL COMPONENTS OF SATKHIRA REGION
Study area: Name of respondent: Sex of respondent: Age of respondent: Occupation: Occupation of majority: Availability of water: Source of water: Arsenic Problem: Water pollution source: Major Crops: Annual crop productions: Agricultural system: Natural Hazards: Male / Female years Agriculture / Business / Teacher / ......... Agriculture / Business / Teacher /.. All the year round/ in particular season. Ground-water/ Pond/ River/ Stream.. Yes / No Nearby industry/ Agricultural/ Household pollutants/. Rice / Jute / Corn / Bean / Sugarcane / .. . Traditional method/ Modern technological method Flood / Tornado / Storm / Drought / Earthquake / Thunderstorm . . . Yes / No Yes / No Local administration / Government reliefs / Non-government 1.During summer.. 2. During winter.. Rainfall: Soil type: Natural resources: Archaeological site: House type: Common health problem: Common Plants: Common animals: Common Social problems: Local Perception for solution High / Low / Moderate 1.Renewable. 2. Non Renewable. . . . .. . .

Frequency of hazards: Magnitude and loss: Shelter Center: Relief availability: Distribution of Relief: Temperature: -