Dream Come True
Dacope sub-district (upazila) is a disaster-prone area which was established in 1993. Currently, there are 10 unions and 107 villages in this upazila. Among these 10 unions, Tildanaga is a union where extreme natural disasters strike every year such as cyclones (Sidr, Ayla), floods and water-logging, land-sliding and erosion, etc. As a result, many people become destitute. ADRA Bangladesh has been working for the socio-economic development at Tildanga union for the last two years where people are suffering tremendously.
Kaminibashia Udorpara is a village (4 no. ward) of Tildanga union where 450 people of 150 families are dwelling. These people are commonly using a particular road for their daily work. People in this area have been facing road problem for a long time and they are using a worn-out road beside the river in Kaminibashia Udorpara village. So, it’s their dream to have a road which they can use for their daily purpose flawlessly. Cyclonic storms associated with tidal floods impact seriously on the infrastructures in this area. Due to the tide, sometimes this road becomes inaccessible as the road is very low. As a result, it becomes difficult for the children to go to school and the locals can’t go for their daily work at that time. Consequently, people suffer a lot. The people of the area have taken initiative to reform the road, but due to lack of money, it has not been reformed completely.
The people of Kaminibashia Udorpara and the members of Rajonigandha Mohila Unnayon Shomity requested to Parul Shana (The president of Rajonigandha Mohila Unnayon Shomity) for sending an application on behalf of them to the project manager of ACE Project of ADRA Bangladesh asking for if they can renovate the road. Then, she sent an application to the project manager of the ACE Project underlining the hardship of the local people.
In the year 2009, this road was broken due to the devastating cyclone Ayla. Later in 2009, the road was renovated by the villagers on their own initiative but the road didn’t last long because of their poor work. It becomes almost impossible to use this road during the rainy season.
Hence, it’s been a crying need to renovate this road as soon as possible to confiscate the sufferings of the villagers. Soon the ACE project manager visited the area and decided to renovate the road. They started working and renovated this soil road to 3 feet (0.91 m) high, 6 feet (1.83 m) wide and 400 feet (0.12 km) long. Total 17 workers worked to renovate this road, of them 12 were male and 5 were female. They all worked hard to collect the soil from the banks of the river and canals to reform the road. ACE Project of ADRA Bangladesh spent a total of 21,600.00 taka as remuneration for this road.
Himank Shana and Bidhan Shardar two of the residents of Kaminibashia Udorpara village said, “The ACE Project of ADRA Bangladesh made this road accessible for the 450 villagers by renovating it.” They also added, “Now, we can take the patients to the hospital quickly, children can go to school at the right time and farmers can sell their grains at market easily.” Finally, they expressed their gratitude towards the ACE Project of ADRA Bangladesh.
The feeble local governance and upazila management coupled with high poverty incidence and remote locations create persistent development challenges to these areas. Poor coordination between upazila Parishad and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and high dependency on the central government are the important causes of hindrance in infrastructure development of the coastal cities. Climate change, climate variability, and natural disasters further aggravate development in coastal villages. Most of the people of this village are dependent on vegetable cultivation, fish farming, and poultry rearing. Due to this road, villagers are being benefited in many ways.
Finally, the president of Rajonigandha Mohila Unnoyon Shomity, Parul Shana expressed her gratitude towards the ACE Project of ADRA Bangladesh on behalf of the Kaminibashia Udorpara villagers. She said, “I wish to express my sincere thanks to the ACE Project of ADRA Bangladesh for repairing and resurfacing our road situated at Kaminibashia Udorpara village and our dream comes true!”
