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Safia Begum
Christian Aid recently visited Safia and heard her concerns about the encroaching river. Now her house is no more.
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Washed away
Safia and her family live in a simple one room straw-walled house 30 yards from the river bank. The small plot of land they own is steadily shrinking as more and more of it falls away into the river Padma (Ganges).
They have no domestic animals but they grow chillies in the early summer which her husband takes to the market in Harirampur to sell. Then they plant paddy during the rainy season.
'I have lived here for about 25 years and my father-in-law has been here for about 70 or 80 years. I’m so frightened that the river will take all of our land. Five years ago, the river was about 3.5 kms away from us and now it is on our doorstep. But we have no land except this land so we will have to move to a government roadside because we have no savings in the bank.
We may go to relatives but we haven’t discussed anything with them yet.'
They have no domestic animals but they grow chillies in the early summer which her husband takes to the market in Harirampur to sell. Then they plant paddy during the rainy season.
'I have lived here for about 25 years and my father-in-law has been here for about 70 or 80 years. I’m so frightened that the river will take all of our land. Five years ago, the river was about 3.5 kms away from us and now it is on our doorstep. But we have no land except this land so we will have to move to a government roadside because we have no savings in the bank.
We may go to relatives but we haven’t discussed anything with them yet.'
'When the river swallows the land then I’ll start thinking about what we will do and maybe ask our relatives if we can stay there'
'We haven’t made any plans to be prepared for when it happens.
When the river breaks I’ll worry about what to do and where to go. What can we do? It makes me so sad when I think about what will happen to our land – why does the river want to take it?
No one can stop the erosion. It seems to be happening much more quickly these days too. We don’t know why it is happening more quickly. Maybe the river current has got stronger.
We are surviving at the moment though. The only thing is that we can’t afford to pay for my older child’s needs so that she can continue her education. I can’t buy all the books that she needs. But if we lose the land, whatever happens we must try to make sure that our children continue to go to school.'
When the river breaks I’ll worry about what to do and where to go. What can we do? It makes me so sad when I think about what will happen to our land – why does the river want to take it?
No one can stop the erosion. It seems to be happening much more quickly these days too. We don’t know why it is happening more quickly. Maybe the river current has got stronger.
We are surviving at the moment though. The only thing is that we can’t afford to pay for my older child’s needs so that she can continue her education. I can’t buy all the books that she needs. But if we lose the land, whatever happens we must try to make sure that our children continue to go to school.'
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| Safia Begum and her child |
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