RANGPUR, Apr 15 (BSS): The plinth-raising method for houses has become very effective for the people living in the low-lying riverine char islands to adapt with the climate change impacts in escaping floods during the rainy seasons.
The record number of 0.51 million (5.17 lakh) extremely poor people of 1.33 lakh households will escape floods and save properties during the upcoming rainy season with assistance of the Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) in ten riverine northern districts.
The CLP has been working with extremely poor households living on riverine island chars with comprehensive approaches to improve their livelihoods in remote char areas since 2004 in association with a number of NGOs on the Brahmaputra basin.
The UKaid through the Department for International Development (DFID) and Australian Government through Australian Agency for International Development have been jointly funding implementation of the CLP.
Under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and management through Maxwell Stamp Plc, the CLP is being executed by the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division.
Plinth-raising of their houses became a blessing for the beneficiary landless char families to achieve self-reliance through various income generation activities to lead a better life bidding permanent good-bye to decades-old extreme poverty.
Livelihoods Coordinator of CLP Dr. Mahbub Alam said 55,000 households under phase-I (2004-2010) and 78,000 households under phase-II (2010-2016) have been brought under the CLP programme to improve livelihoods of the extremely poor char households by 2016.
The multi-dimensional CLP activities are being implemented successfully by different NGOs in the riverine char islands of ten northwestern riverine districts to assist the char people in adapting with adverse situations to improve livelihoods.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid said CLP is being implemented on char areas in Kurigram, Bogra, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Pabna and Tangail districts.
"Beginning with plinth raising, the comprehensive programme has been helping the have-nots group char people in adapting with climate change to achieve self-reliance through various income-generating activities under adverse situations," he added.
CLP beneficiaries Parul Begum Anwara Khatun, Delwara Khanom, Aklima, Mamtaz and Johura Khatun narrated as how they escaped floods for the eighth consecutive time in different char villages during the last rainy season.
