Bablu Jordar from the coast
Shyamnagar is among Bangladesh’s most susceptible upazilas due to climate change. The villagers always have to deal with all kinds of misfortunes. Frequent coastal cyclones and river dam breaches pushed water into the area and salted the agricultural land due to climate change. The salinity is rising. Due to a shortage of job, residents in the area are migrating to cities in urban areas in search of work. Additionally, fish in the rivers next to the Sundarbans are not found by fishermen.
Yet again, in order to protect the Sundarbans, the government has imposed a three-month entrance ban. Coastal dwellers are battling these different challenges in an attempt to live. Day by day, Bangladesh’s coastal districts are experiencing an increasing number of disasters and threats to their way of life.
oplus_0Insect attacks on trees are another recent disaster which gets worsened due to climate induced disasters. This bug is damaging ‘geoa’ trees in several villages that are close to the Shyamnagar upazila’s Sundarbans. Plants exposed to saline water are particularly vulnerable to insect attacks. The dying tree’s leaves are being eaten one by one by hundreds of insects every day. Insects adhere to human body when individuals move, causing wounds on the body. The children are afraid since the insects frequently break into homes.
Once more, this bug consumes all of the leaves on the tree, causing the trees to wither and die. Insect assaults are causing harm to ecologically desirable plants, but people living along the shore are finding it more difficult to move about. In an effort to save dead trees from insect infestations, people are pruning them down, which is destroying biodiversity as well.
“This type of insect attack has never been observed before,” the local communities remarked. There was not much of this bug in the vicinity. Only during the monsoon season these bugs are more prevalent. This year, insect assaults are quite common. The insects resemble leeches in black. Every day there are new issues to arise.’
To lessen the infestation of insects, people are burning and filling trees. Pesticides are used by others. However, no administrative action has been taken to stop bug infestation. Insect populations are also growing daily. Bad odors are being dispersed by insects and decaying vegetation, which is impacting the surrounding environment.
It is feared that if such insect infestation continues the region’s saltwater ‘geoa’ plants will become less and will eventually decrease if insect infestation is not controlled. Local communities believe that immediate action is required on the part of the government and other sectors to fend off bug infestations. Diversity will be in danger otherwise.
Translated by Shaheda Purna