Rafiqul Montu

The women-led initiative in a remote tribal area shows the way ahead for climate adaptation.
Until recently, the womenfolk of Bangladesh’s Rangamati hill district would spend most of their day collecting water from a valley and carrying it up and across treacherous mountain paths. Then, a landslide in 2017 changed the local water channel and worsened the water shortage to such an extent that people started leaving the village.
But last year, the villagers implemented a project that transforme...

Anwar Hossain ist besorgt, als er im August 2022 auf die Wolken blickt, die sich im Westen zusammenbrauen. Er fürchtet, dass heftige Winde und Regenfälle aufkommen und dass der Fluss anschwillt. Dann könnte der Reisbauer seine Ernte nicht einbringen. Träte der Fluss gar vollends über die Ufer, würde die Ernte überdies zerstört. Seiner Familie stünde ein hartes Jahr bevor. Doch Hossains Sohn Omar Farooq kann den Vater beruhigen, indem er mit seiner Google-App auf dem Handy die Hochwassersituat...

Twelve days before the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP27, Cyclone Sitrang hurtled through coastal Bangladesh on October 24 night, leaving paddy fields submerged and millions displaced.
All the paddy in the field of Abdur Rahim Mollah, a farmer of Padma village of Barguna Sadar Upazila, was damaged by Cyclone Sitrang. All photos: Rafiqul Islam Montu
Badarkhali (Barguna), Bangladesh
The sufferings of Abdur Rahim Molla know no end. In May and June earli...

2022 के संयुक्त राष्ट्र जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्मेलन यानी COP27 से ठीक बारह दिन पहले 24 अक्टूबर की रात को चक्रवात सितरंग तटीय बांग्लादेश से टकराया। इसकी वजह से धान की फसल बर्बाद हो गई और खेत पानी से लबालब भर गए। अमन धान की फसल को बड़े पैमाने पर नुकसान पहुंचने की सूचना मिली है।
बदरखली (बरगुना), बांग्लादेश। अब्दुर रहीम मोल्ला की मुश्किलों का कोई अंत नहीं है। इस साल की शुरुआत में मई और जून में बरगुना जिले में उनके तटीय गाँव पद्मा को बाढ़ का सामना करना पड़ा और उन्हें अपना घर-बाहर छोड़कर दूसरी जगह आश्र...

Charfasson (Bhola), Bangladesh: Strong waves gradually wash away the island at the mouth of the sea, and with it the houses, fields, buildings, markets, roads, everything.
Over two decades of constant erosion, the island's settlement area has shrunk from 15 sq km to just 3.5 sq km. The coastal island of Dhal Char, nestling in the delta of the Meghna river in Bangladesh, is about to disappear. About 3,500 families, with about 17,000 people, have dwindled to about 1,000 families with 8,000 peop...

Two Bangladeshis have made it into the list of "100 Most Influential People in Climate 2022/23" by Apolitical.

They are British-Bangladeshi Scientist Dr Saleemul Huq and Environment Journalist Rafiqul Islam Montu.

Apolitical - a British non-profit organisation and global network for the government helping public servants find the ideas, people and partners they need to solve the hardest challenges - made the announcement on its official website on Friday (4 November).

The global policy watchd...

Abdul Momin poured his life savings into a house in Bangladesh's Sylhet district. Now, his new home has been sitting under floodwaters for over a month. "All my property was lost in the flood," the 40-year-old agriculture laborer tells Treehugger. "I'm living in someone else's house. I don't know when I can go to my home."
The Sylhet region was hit with two devastating floods this year that impacted 6 million people, according to local administration sources. The cumulative impact of both flo...

Environment
40-metre dam breaks in Sathkira; Difficult to survive after repeated losses, say residents
Houses in the coastal areas of Bangladesh have submerged once again due to high tides and overflowing rivers, putting lives and livelihoods at risk.
Several districts in the country were severely affected by flash floods in May and June that had left millions destitute.
The tidal water has increased abnormally over the entire coastal region over the last few days due to the effect of the ful...

Natural Disasters
Flood victims lacking basic essentials such as rice, fuel, cooking utensils; forced to live on roads
Three weeks have passed since the catastrophic floods in northeastern Bangladesh. The floods have affected every aspect of people’s lives. Residents of the area are facing extreme distress, this reporter found out.
A visit to the affected districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj showed flood victims living on the side of the Sylhet-Sunamganj Highway or in other people’s homes.
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Natural Disasters
Sylhet’s traditional wetlands, which act as sponges absorbing surface runoff, have been destroyed, thereby enabling the current floods, they say
Experts in Bangladesh have cautioned against solely blaming climate change for the ongoing floods in the country’s north-eastern Sylhet division. They say the destruction of Sylhet’s traditional wetlands, known as ‘haors’ are also part of the reason.
The whole of Sylhet division has been flooded since June 16 and 17, when rains upst...

Climate Change
Heavy rains in Assam and Meghalaya, as well as unplanned embankments cited as reasons for flooding
Two rounds of flooding within a month in northeastern Bangladesh’s Sylhet division have left four million people fighting for survival, with their houses, paddy fields, fish ponds and livestock washed away.
The floods have affected Sylhet city and district and neighbouring Sunamganj and Moulvibazar districts. All three districts are located in the Sylhet division, one of the eight...

इस साल मई-जून में बांग्लादेश का पूर्वोत्तर इलाका भारी मानसूनी बारिश और अचानक बाढ़ की चपेट में आ गया था। इससे लाखों लोग प्रभावित हुए और उनमें से कई तो अभी भी बिना रोजगार के विस्थापित जीवन जीने के लिए मजबूर हैं। लोगों के सर पर कर्ज का बोझ और भुखमरी दोनों तेजी से बढ़ रहे हैं।
इस साल मई-जून में बांग्लादेश का पूर्वोत्तर इलाका भारी मानसूनी बारिश और अचानक बाढ़ की चपेट में आ गया। लाखों लोग प्रभावित हुए और सैकड़ों-हजारों हेक्टेयर खेती की जमीन पानी में समा गई। फोटो: रफीकुल इस्लाम मोंटू
सिलहट, बांग्लादे...

During May-June this year, the northeastern region of Bangladesh was hit by heavy monsoon rains and flash floods. Millions were affected, and many of them are still displaced with no source of livelihood. Both debt and hunger are on the rise.
In the Sylhet region people said that they have not seen such devastation in living memory. All photos by Rafiqul Islam Montu
Sylhet, Bangladesh
The floods have come and gone, but the crisis for the flood-affected in Bangladesh is far from over. Unemploy...

बाढ़ के बाद सूखे ने बांग्लादेश में फसल चक्र को बाधित कर दिया है, खासकर देश के उत्तरी और तटीय दक्षिण-पश्चिम क्षेत्रों में। इस साल डेल्टा देश में अमन धान की खेती के तहत कुल 5.62 मिलियन हेक्टेयर भूमि की सिर्फ 25 प्रतिशत हिस्से पर खेती की गई है।
कोयरा (खुलना जिला), बांग्लादेश। बांग्लादेश में यह एक अजीब स्थिति है। जहां देश का एक हिस्सा बाढ़ के बाद की परेशानियों का सामना कर रहा है, वहीं दूसरी तरफ उसके कुछ हिस्से में सूखे के कारण खेती कर पाना मुश्किल हो गया है। इससे अमन धान की बुवाई बुरी तरह प्रभावि...

Floods, followed by drought, have disrupted the crop cycle in Bangladesh, especially in the northern and coastal southwest regions of the country. Of the total 5.62 million hectares of land under aman paddy cultivation, only 25 per cent has been cultivated this year in the delta country.
Koyra (Khulna district), Bangladesh
It is a bizarre situation in Bangladesh where one part of the country is facing a post-flood crisis while in another, drought is withering agricultural lands that has badly...