The Outer Ring Road borders the Bay of Bengal in Chattogram. A section of the road is bookmarked by a sprawling settlement, dotted with hundreds of fishermen’s homes hugging the coastline, known as Akmal Ali Ghat. But Cyclone Sitrang laid waste to the entire fishing village as it cut its path of devastation through the coast on Oct 24.
With their lives in tatters, members of the community are now forced to take shelter in tents made of cloth and polythene, while some are staying out in the open. The end of a 22-day fishing ban on Friday midnight was meant to herald good tidings for the community. Instead, the destructive tides whipped up by the storm have turned their hopes into despair. Their homes were levelled and washed away, trawlers wrecked, and most importantly, fishing nets, their lifeline, have also been lost to the sea. Without their nets and trawlers, the fishermen face an uphill struggle to get back on their feet.
At least 200 families were living along the coast below an embankment. The settlement was also littered with fishing warehouses, shops and various other establishments. But within an hour of the storm’s onset, they were all gone. Typically, this time of the year brings fresh optimism to fishermen as they prepare to venture out to sea. Now, an air of despondency envelopes the community.
On Thursday afternoon, the beaming sun brought the extent of the losses suffered by the community into sharp focus. On one side of the overlying embankment, cooking arrangements were being made for the stricken villagers, as people scoured the debris of what was once their homes in search of their belongings in a nearby reservoir. Some men were busy repairing the nets they recovered, while the women gathered the household items spared by the cyclone’s wroth.
At the embankment, a group of women crowded around this correspondent, asking for their names to be taken down in the hope of receiving some aid. Three days have passed since the storm, but they were yet to receive any government assistance, the women claimed.
A man named Hari Das was overseeing the cooking arrangements at the embankment. He said meals were being prepared for those who lost their homes and belongings all at once.
A festival is held in Akmal Ali Ghat every year. But the funds for the event were used to ensure that the residents remained fed. “A few meals have also been sent by some organisations and individuals. But they usually arrive very late. Lunch comes in the afternoon, while dinner comes late at night. People can’t eat at that time either. Adults can withstand hunger but children cannot. They have to cook for them.”
Steps were taken to serve around 250 people during every mealtime. Each of the meals costs around Tk 12,000-15,000 to prepare. Now, the funds have run out. Hridoy Das was busy fixing a net along with a few companions. Residents kept fishing nets in their houses, but they were all washed away, he said. He has managed to find 20 of his 50 nets.
Despite the cyclone warning, residents decided to stay at home on Monday. But the sea began to swell around 8:30 pm, half an hour before the tide usually turns high. The high winds and the storm surge ripped the settlement apart, he said, when a woman interjected.
“The scale of destruction was beyond our imagination,” said Anjali Das. “Our family consists of my son, his wife and my two grandchildren. Suddenly, the water washed everything away. There were some nets, but they were also lost.” Md Yusuf, a tea shop owner, has been living in the fishing village with his wife for the last 10 years. “We have never seen such a ferocious storm before,” he said.
“My house had two rooms. I ran the shop in the front room, while my wife and children stayed in the back. Everything was swept away by the storm. There was around Tk 25,000 at the shop. But it’s all gone. Now, I’m living off the meals provided by the festival committee.” To alleviate the suffering of the fishing community, the district administration has allocated three tonnes of rice for 300 affected families, said Nezarat Deputy Collector Md Tauhidul Islam.
“We couldn’t bring rice from the warehouse today. It will be distributed by local councillors tomorrow [Friday],” Tauhidul said. He claimed that the authorities have already distributed cooked and dry food among the storm victims. The lives of fishermen are intrinsically linked to the sea and its ever-changing tides. Storms are a natural part of the cycle, but this time, the impact has been greater than usual. A few men were working together to build new houses along the fishing grounds near the sea. Rakhal Das was among them. He and his three brothers lived in four homes next to each other, while a few relatives rented homes in the area above the embankment.
The brothers stored various goods, including fishing nets and equipment for their boats, in their homes. But everything was washed away during the cyclone. Locals say that Akmal Ali Ghat harboured almost as many businesses as fishermen’s homes.
Besides fishing, Mridul Jal Das used to repair trawlers in a shop, which was destroyed by the storm. He owned 35 fishing nets, but he was only able to recover 17 of them after the storm died down. Parts of his shop are submerged in the sea, while one of his boats was completely wrecked. Almost all the fishermen take out loans from various NGOs to sustain their trade, according to Rakhal. Fishing at sea is set to resume, but all they can do now is pick up the pieces after the storm.
“We make investments in the form of weekly instalments. There are huge debts that we have to clear. Everything has been destroyed before we could resume fishing. Now we to seek fresh loans again.” “I don’t see any way forward. I need to fix my house, the trawler. How am I supposed to do all that? I can’t even go fishing. And how will our families survive if we can’t go to work? We also need to repay the loans. All in all, we are helpless.”