Assessment and Mitigation of Natural Disasters for Sustainable Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in the Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh

Being a disaster-prone country, nearly one million people have been killed in Bangladesh by cyclones since 1820. Cyclonic storms have always been a major concern to coastal plains and offshore islands of Bangladesh. At least 54 damaging cyclones were reported in the coastal area of Bangladesh from 1793 to 2009 estimating once in every 4 years. Coastal community of Moheshkhali Island is adversely affected by natural disasters since time immemorial. Community livelihood data collected with 309 questionnaires from household heads of eight vulnerable and exposed coastal villages and 24 focused group discussion representing various social groups of the Island is the important milestone of the study. Fishing with traditional boat and gear in the Bay of Bengal was identified as the main income generation option of men where sea salt extraction, agriculture, trading and day labor were found as supporting occupations. Family care and cooking food are the prime duty of women. Early marriage, multi-marriage and dowry system have been recognized in the island. Most of the houses are bamboo fence and mud wall with straw roof having poor sanitary system. Coastal erosion, tidal surge, salinity increase, fisheries decline and anomalies in weather pattern were identified as the most severe problems where as absence of cyclone shelter, lack of road network, shortage of primary school and absence of hospital facility in the locality were other problems. Data analysis revealed that embankment construction in exposed coastal zone with mangrove plantation, weather forecasting in local language, life jackets in fishing boat, solar panel for electricity supply, health facilities with medical centers, cyclone shelter during disaster events and enhanced education program are essential. Temperature and sunshine illustrated increasing trends where as rainfall and humidity showed decreasing trends over the two decades showing clear indication of warming the environment that coincided with global trends.