06
Aug 2008 - My name is Abdul Gaffar Khan
and I am 52 years old. I was born and brought
up on Mousuni Island. My father use to cultivate
paddy rice and other vegetables as well
as rear cattle. In those days we never had
to face any kind of economic hardship.
After I completed my
schooling, I became a medical practitioner
and sometimes I provide free medical services
to poor and needy people free of charge.
I also practice agriculture over half a
hectare land. I have six children and all
of them are still studying. The literacy
rate has significantly increased on this
island.
Storms surges are breaching
embankments
Being on the lap of
Bay of Bengal, our island is surrounded
by rivers from all sides. We frequently
witness the fury of nature, and natural
disasters are making our lives difficult
on this island. Occurrence of natural events
like tidal surges, storms, cyclones and
flooding has become quite frequent.
Moreover, the frequent
breach of embankments on the western side
of this island causes flooding which in
turn forces us to take refuge at the local
high school. For the last couple of decades
this school has acted as a flood relief
shelter. This is one of only two high schools
on this island and when it is utilised as
a flood relief shelter the school schedule
is suspended for weeks. This hampers our
children's studies.
An increase in illness
Summer is getting extremely
hot these days. It is really difficult to
go outside our houses between 10 am and
3 pm. The local high school declares a holiday
during periods of extreme heat.
I have treated people
for the last 15 years. According to my observations
and experience, the number of critically
ill patients has increased drastically.
Many of them suffer from cancer, high blood
pressure, malaria, tuberculosis, and sunstroke.
I am not able to treat them with lower dosage
of medicines anymore as this doesn't seem
be effective. I treat them with a higher
dosage of the same medicines even though
it may have some side effects.
Impact on farming
Not long ago our agricultural
land was very productive and it gave us
a good harvest. Twenty years back, I use
to cultivate chilly, paddy rice, watermelon
and a host of other vegetables but these
days most of the farmers don't cultivate
watermelon primarily due to changing weather
and cropping pattern. Changing climate has
rendered cultivation of some cash crops
not profitable.
I am witnessing a gradual
reduction in crop productivity for last
seven or eight years. Changes to the weather
and cropping pattern, along with falling
agricultural productivity are major problems.
I strongly believe that falling agricultural
productivity and subsequent usage of large
amounts of harmful pesticides and chemical
fertilisers has a direct bearing on human
health.
I remember, some time
back a government agency took an initiative
to test (for harmful chemicals and pesticides
residue) agricultural harvests and 23 out
of 24 products were found to be unfit for
human consumption. Consumption of highly
contaminated food products is reducing our
natural immunity towards disease.
We need to adapt to
the changes
Now, our only option
is to try to adapt with the changed/changing
scenario. We should start working towards
this option at the earliest.
Some of the adaptation
measures that we need to employ are:
Strengthen and heighten
embankments;
Create mangrove plantations;
Build a flood shelter;
Improve people's livelihood options.
