IMPACT OF SALINITY ON THE LIVELIHOODS OF THE COASTAL PEOPLE IN BANGLADESH: AN ASSESSMENT ON POST AMPHAN SITUATION

Climate change induced salinity and seasonal (October to May) intrusion of saline water in addition to the severe cyclone that originated from the Bay of Bengal has penetrated to the people, livelihoods, flood plains of the south and south-western part of Bangladesh. Nowadays this brackish condition to the land the lower delta is continually increasing its territory to south-eastern and northern part as well. This paper is mainly focused on the assessment relating to the impact factors by saline water of the post condition of devastating cyclone Sidr, Aila and especially super cyclone Amphan which was occurred on 20 May 2020 on Jammu Island in West Bengal, India and crossed Bangladesh on 20-21 May. The most awful blow was experienced in the district of Satkhira and Khulna in Bangladesh, where the storm speed was recorded between 60-90 kmph with high tidal inundation. This study rather than diagnostic reflects of impact factors refers in relation with the livelihoods, irrigations, biodiversity, hygiene and reproductive health hazards to the women and adolescent girls of the tidal flats of Koyra and Shymnagar adjacent to the Sundarban in Bangladesh. Methodological application both in qualitative and quantitative techniques are used for analyzing of the collecting data. This paper justifies that it was difficult to understand for the people of the impacts of saline water which had snowed under on the day of Amphan. But aftermath of the cyclone it had become one of the most causes of sufferings to them. Besides this, human creating salinity mainly the stagnation of saline water in the cultivable land by the influential of that locality causes hamper to produce crops for shrimp cultivation. So, this paper recommends, it is very difficult to protect the displacement of livelihoods, decreasing the fertility of the cultivable land and creating health effects to the women and adolescents in the low landscape of Koyra and Shymnagar whether it would not possible to reduce the stagnation of saline water for a long run.