by Shihab
Nowadays, migration and climate change are talked about regularly. When a person goes from one place to another, this is called migration. My long dream was to work for the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) and these days have been some of the greatest of my life. During the field trip, as a supervisor, my main task was to supervise and monitor the field.
First of all, RMMRU selected a team which consisted of seven members (including myself). My first trip was to Assassuni in the Satkhira Districts. After a long journey, we arrived but when we disembarked from the bus, we faced different types of problems that came one after another. Due to the strong bond of my team, we overcame all the problems. Every member of the team was kind and our sophisticated thinking allowed us to handle any type of problem easily. After Assassuni, we went to Kaligong in Satkhira which was an excellent area. After completing our work in Kaligong, we reached Satkhira Sadar.
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As usual, we awoke early in the morning and after breakfast went to the field but didn’t find anyone. After searching, we came to the conclusion that there was a listing problem. So, we came back to Dhaka with the work unfinished. After four days rest, we went to Borguna which was very enjoyable compared to the other areas. Every village was covered with trees and informants were so friendly. Right now we miss those people. That was the story of two fields, they are Hoglapasha and Borguna Sadar. Gendamara was a very different field and also difficult. I have never seen a village as large. There were no transport systems in the whole village and villagers are used to walking, although we are not! We worked easily and were enthusiastic about being there. After completing the Taltoli field, we went to Patuakhali Kalapara, after which we got a one day vacation, which we used to visit Kuakata where you can watch the sunset and sunrise. We saw some nice nature and water. In this same way we finished our Patuakhali Sadar and Mirjagong field. Banajora Boufol in Patuakhali was so different from the other places. We encountered some folks who held strong views and this created some difficulties. Still, we enjoyed a full moonlit night with the river blows which was amazing. After four days rest, we prepared to go to a new field in Chandpur, which is known for being abundant with fish. Above all, I like to describe my happy moments, however, I think I hold this memory in the corner of my heart. Thanks to RMMRU for this excellent trip, I eagerly await the next opportunity.
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Phultola is a village in Batiaghata Upazilla near Pashur river. Most of the population is educated. Some people are living in other cities because of their studies and employment, and some are living abroad. People are mainly involved with agriculture. They are producing seasonal fruits and crops including paddy, daal, several vegetables, etc. Most of the houses are made of wood and leaves. Some people are engaged with prawn cultivation. Drought and cyclone are the main natural disasters here. Because of the saltiness in the soil, agriculture is becoming increasingly difficult.
Our second place was Jessore beside Kapataksha river which is linked to the poet Michael Madhushudan Dutta. Jessore is one of the districts of Khulna and one of the oldest cities. It has eight Upazillas. During the British Raj period, Jessore was a “mahakuma”.
I went to Noakhali, Laxmipur, Khulna, Bagerhat, Jessore, and Gopalgonj for field surveys for the DECCMA project and gained so many experiences from this journey. Among them, I can share the place called Amurkata of Paikgacha of the Khulna district where there is a scarcity of drinking water. This area of six or seven kilometres has no internal transport. People paddle from one part to another. The ground in that area is high in salinity. There are also very few trees and the weather is quite rough. People often travel three of four kilometres by foot to collect drinking water from a deep well which is placed in a “Local Bazaar.” Every day in the morning or evening, they go with one or two jars to collect water. In today’s age, this scenario is shocking to see.
Professor Md. Munsur Rahman, during his 24-year professional career, has conducted research on morphological processes in tidal and non-tidal rivers, growth of char land resources and livelihood strategies, river-bank erosion protection and social response. Currently, he is leading several international collaborative research projects focusing on ecosystem service-poverty alleviation linkages, climate change vulnerability and adaptation in deltaic settings, and disaster prevention/mitigation measures against floods and storm surges, in which the fundamental approach integrated assessment of bio-physical and socio-economic processes. He is the Principal Investigator and lead for Work Package 5 on DECCMA.
Professor Mashfiqus Salehin has been working in both technical and interdisciplinary research areas, focusing on a variety of issues, including basin scale hydrologic modelling, hydrodynamics of exchange processes between river and groundwater, hydro geologic analysis of coastal aquifers, groundwater and seawater intrusion modelling, flood hazard, vulnerability and risk analysis, harmonisation of multiple uses of water resources, assessment of ecosystem service-poverty alleviation linkages, biophysical vulnerability of coastal hazards and implications to water and food security, and trans boundary river water management. He is the Deputy Principal Investigator and lead on Work Package 1 for DECCMA.
Md. Anisur Rahman Majumdar is the Bangladesh Project Coordinator for DECCMA. Prior to this, Anis worked in different national and international organisations in administrative sectors and has completed his MBA at the University of Wales, Institute of Cardiff, in International Business. He is working on Work Package 0 for DECCMA.
Dr. Rezaur Rahman is a Professor at the Institute of Water and Flood Management at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He is a Civil Engineer by discipline with a research focus on water and environment. He was involved in the preparation of National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA), Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) and UNFCCC 2nd country communication. Professor Rahman is acting co-lead for DECCMA’s Work Package 6, which will identify and evaluate feasible and acceptable planned and autonomous adaptations in the three deltas.
Prof. Anisul Haque is a Civil Engineer at BUET, Bangladesh specialising in Computational Fluid Dynamics. In his Ph.D from K.U. Leuven, Belgium, he worked on turbulence in stratified tidal medium. His main research interests are marine and estuarine processes, delta dynamics, basic hydraulics and numerical models. At present, he is working as a Professor at IWFM, BUET. In DECCMA, he is working in Work Package 2 where he is the joint country lead. The main objective of this Work Package is to understand and map biophysical factors affecting vulnerability. Under this objective, Hot Spot maps showing out migration for present day condition and for future climatic scenarios will be developed.
Prof. A. Fazal M. Saleh is a water resources engineer with interest in irrigation and water management. He is involved in Work Package 2 which deals with characterising the bio-physical impacts of climate change on agricultural production systems and land-use.
Professor Shahjahan Mondal specialises in climate change and hydrology, agricultural water management, risk-based planning and water governance, has been involved in several national and regional collaborative action research and consultancy projects focusing peri-urban water security, urban vulnerability and adaptive capacity, disaster impact on agricultural value chain, and technical and socio-economic aspects of flood shelters. He has received formal training in IWRM and interdisciplinary field research methodology. Professor Mondal is mostly involved in Work Package 6, which is on adaptation, and currently looking at the adaptation practices in the GBM Delta. He is also involved in the governance component of Work Package 2.
Prof. Mohammed Abed Hossain is an environmental engineer with interest primarily on transport of pollutants in a multi-cascade system and climate change impact on environment. He has been involved in researches on industrial waste treatment, stochastic hydrological modelling, modelling of residual flow and salinity, etc. During his PhD at University of Tokyo, Abed investigated the competitive adsorption mechanisms of heavy metals in soil and sediments. Abed is a co-researcher in DECCMA’s Work Package 6. He is also involved in DECCMA’s Work Package 2 where he will deal with the GAEZ database development and maintenance, and handle meta data for the Bangladesh team. He is also involved in Work Package 1 in limited capacity.
Md. Rashedul Islam has completed his B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering at BUET. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc. degree in Environmental Engineering in BUET. He is the project coordinator of the ESPA Deltas for Bangladesh. Rashed is working as a co-investigator in DECCMA’s Work Package 2 on hotspot map analysis and to quantify vulnerability weightage for various climate change parameter issues.
Momtaz Jahan is a Water Resources Engineer from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. She worked on the dumping characteristics of bank protection materials in her undergraduate thesis. She has worked on ESPA Deltas Project and Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre. Currently her main research interest is around different climate change issues in the water related sector. Momtaz Jahan is a Masters fellow and working for Work Packages 2 and 5.
Rubaiya Kabir is a PhD Civil Engineering from the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Bangladesh. Her research study was on the Management of Buriganga Watershed as a Bachelors degree thesis. Rubaiya has worked on ESPA Deltas Project in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) as a Research Assistant. Her keen interest is to work and research in the water sector. Rubaiya is a Masters fellow and working onDECCMA’s Work Package 2.
Debanjali Saha completed her B.Sc. degree in Water Resources Engineering at BUET. She is currently pursuing her M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development in IWFM, BUET. She is conducting research on the prospect of dry season crops in the south-western coastal area of Bangladesh under climate change scenarios. Debanjali is working as a co-investigator in DECCMA’s Work Package 6.
Muhammad Shahriar Shafayet Hossain is a Masters Student of Water Resources Development in IWFM (BUET). He has graduated in Water Resources Engineering from BUET in 2014. His undergraduate thesis title is “A Study on the Morphological Changes of Rivers Around Vicinity of Chandpur Town & Assessment of Its Bank Protection Works”. His main fields of interest are River Engineering, Hydraulic Modelling and Coastal Zone Management. He is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 6 for the DECCMA Project.
Rabeya Akter is working as a Research Assistant in Work Package 2 of the DECCMA project. Her research interests lie in the field of climate change related issues, remote sensing and GIS and Hydraulic and numeric modelling. Prior to this, she worked as a Research Assistant on a Post Graduate Disaster Management Program (PPDM) at BRAC University. She graduated from the Urban and Regional Planning Department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
Shanjida Noor is completing her post graduation in Water Resource Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (BUET). Prior to this she completed her graduation in Environmental Science from the Asian University for Women. Her thesis work was on ‘Introducing feasible waste water treatment processes in Bangladesh using Trametes versicolor, sugarcane bagasse and water hyacinth“. She has intense research interest on climate change issues, adaptation strategies, hydraulic and numeric modelling, remote sensing and GIS. She is working as a DECCEMA research fellow on Fluvio-Tidal Flood and Survey Component (Work Package 2).
Meer Ahemed Tariqul Omar, PhD Fellow, DECCMA, completed his graduation in Urban and Rural Planning in 1996. He did his masters in Water Resources Management from the University of Adelaide in 2012. His dissertation was on Urban Water Balancing model for projected urban growth of Adelaide Metropolis for 2008-2038. Mr. Omar completed another Masters in Development Studies. He is a PhD fellow and involved in Work Package 6 under the DECCMA Project at BUET.
Arif Chowdhury has completed an honors program from Chittagong University. He is interested in research activities and would like to work in the environmental sectors. He is the founder co-ordinator of a non-governmental organisation named “Youth Volunteer of Environment” and attends several national and international programs. He is working as a research assistant on the DECCMA project.
Shamrita Zaman completed her B.Sc in Civil Engineering at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology. She has worked as an Assistant Engineer at a project named ECRRP, LGED, where she observed clearly how the people are distressed because of the naturally made climate disaster. She has an interest in research programs on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Her B.Sc thesis was on finding the degradation rate of organic waste mixing with compost. She is working under Work Package 1 on the DECCMA project.
Md. Manjurul Hussain graduated in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Currently, he is doing his MSc in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. His main fields of interest are statistical analysis, GIS, remote sensing and climate change. Md. Manjurul Hussain Shourov is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 5 for the DECCMA Project, which will develop methods to assess adaptation choices in deltas, with a strong focus on migration.
Delowar Hossain is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Presently, he is pursuing his M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. His research interests are numerical modelling, GIS, remote sensing and hydrological modelling. He is working as a research assistant for the DECCMA project on Work Package 2. His main task is to run the flow model and provide information about the fluvio-tidal flooding.
Mahmida Tul Urmi is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. She is currently pursuing her M.Sc. Degree in Water Resource Development (WRD) from IWFM, BUET, Dhaka. Her main fields of interest are River and Coastal Morphology, Climate Change Impact on Water Resources, Hydrology and Climate modelling, etc. Mahmida Tul Urmi is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 2 for the DECCMA Project, which will examine the vulnerability, environmental stressors and hazards of a range of climate change and biophysically driven scenarios across the four study deltas.
Md. Aminul Islam Khan has completed his BSc degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Currently, he is doing his MSc in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. His main fields of interest are rainfall trend analysis, statistical analysis, GIS and remote sensing, climate change, river discharge, contamination source identification and sensor placement in water distribution network, water quality assessment, phytoremediation, etc. Md. Aminul Islam Khan is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 2 and Work Package 5 for the DECCMA Project.
Anika Tahsin is a civil and environmental engineer with a research interest in water and environmental sectors. She has completed her graduation from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. Currently she is pursuing her M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development at IWFM, BUET. Anika is working on Work Package 2 for the DECCMA Project, which will geographically define the key hazard / environmental stressor components. Her main task is to run the flow model.
Faisal Mahmood is a Water Resources Engineer with an interest in understanding how rural and urban communities respond to climate change. Faisal mainly focuses on mitigation and development in subsistence communities in Water Resources Sectors in Bangladesh. River bank erosion, Flood Risk Management and Remote Sensing and GIS is the primary research interest of Faisal. Currently he is ongoing with his M.Sc in (WRD) in Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. Faisal is acting as a researcher on Hydrotrend model in DECCMA project, which is required to predict the sediment flux and discharge of GBM basin. The result analysis further leads to predict the climatic vulnerability and adaption in the catchment areas of the basin.
Sadmina Razzaque is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Presently, she is pursuing her M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. Her research interests are numerical modelling, GIS, remote sensing and hydrological modelling. She is working as a research assistant for the DECCMA project on Work Package 2. Her main task is to run the flow model.
Tansir Zaman Asik has completed his BSc. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur, Bangladesh. Currently, he is pursuing his MSc. degree in Water Resources Development in the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. His main fields of research are remote sensing and GIS, hydraulic and numeric modelling, climate change related issues and mitigation and adaptation policies. He is working on Work Package 2 of the DECCMA project.
Dewan Sadia Karim is an urban planner and has a personal interest in understanding how vulnerable rural and urban communities are to climate change. Before joining DECCMA, Dewan did research on how to improve living conditions of rural people via social business. She is working as a research assistance for DECCMA’s Work Package 2, which will identify the vulnerable and risk prone areas subject to four types of hazard, in the three deltas.
Nishat Tasnim Priyanka is currently pursuing her M.Sc. in Water Resource Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. She is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. Her undergraduate thesis was on Slope Stability Analysis of Sylhet City using Landslide Possibility Index (LPI) and Limit Equilibrium Method. Her research interests are GIS, remote sensing and numerical modelling. She is working as a Research Assistant on DECCMA’s Work Package 2.
Mashrekur Rahman received his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2014 and his M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development in October 2016. He has a number of scientific conferences, journal, book chapter publications and numerous newspaper columns based on his research. Mashrekur’s current research interests include remote sensing, GIS, hydrodynamic modelling, environment, aquaculture, wetlands and water management in drought-prone regions. Mashrekur is currently working on Work Package 5 of the DECCMA project. He is also playing an active role in DECCMA’s Research-Into-Use.
