iwmi draft polder overview report

8/2/2019 IWMI Draft Polder Overview Report

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G3 Water Governance and Community based management of coastal polders

1

A comparative analysis of the differences and similarities of

selected BWDB polders and LGED sub-projects

1. IntroductionA polder is a man-made structure consisting of mud walls surrounding a hydrological unit. It is an

infrastructure created in the coastal zones of Bangladesh in the 1960s to protect communities from

flooding, inundation and salinity intrusion. Polder functions have changed over time and they now

play a vital role in providing shelter from disasters and to increase food production. However, they

frequently suffer from poor operation and maintenance (O&M), especially of sluices that control

water in and out flows. This leads to increased siltation and water logging and have negative

impacts on agriculture and food security, while increasing risk of breaking during disasters.

Communities hold a strong interest to ensure a functioning infrastructure as it affects them directly

as it may increase or decrease salinity, water logging and siltation, drinking water availability and/oralso river erosion. In this paper; we compare the similarities and differences between selected

Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) polders and smaller polder sub-projects in Local

Government Engineering Department (LGED). We will focus firstly on different severities of various

water related problems such as salinity, water logging, drinking water and river erosion, and

secondly on specific polder characteristics in terms of management. The analysis is based on initial

field exposure visits to the selected research sites in only few of the Union Parishads within the

polders. Findings may therefore be susceptible to change when more data from an increased

selection of villages and unions are added. This may therefore be seen as a preliminary summary of

field exposure visits. Once all field work is completed and all relevant literature has been found,

this report will be re-written so that it becomes a comparative polder analysis.

2. Water related problems2.1.Salinity

Table 1: Salinity characteristics of polders

Polder Upazila, District Implementing

Agency

Level of Salinity

1. Polder 3 Debhata & Kaliganj,Satkhira

BWDB (informal) High

2. Latabunia sub-project

Dumuria, Khulna LGED - SSWRDP High

3. 24G Keshobpur, Jessore BWDB (KJDRP) Increasing4. Polder 31 Daacope, Khulna BWDB (4th Fisheries) Average to High5. Jabusha sub-

project

Rupsha, Khulna LGED - SSWRDPAverage to High

6. 30 Batiaghata, Khulna BWDB, IPSWAM Low to Average


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7. 43-2F Amtoli, Barguna BWDB, IPSWAM Low8. Jainkathi Sadar, Patuakhali LGED - SSWRDP Low

2.1.1. High SalinityThe coastal belt of Bangladesh suffers from increasing salinity

intrusion in many areas. According research and salinity zone

mapping by the Soil Research Development Institute of

Bangladesh, Satkhira district is one of the most saline zones in

the country. Polder 3 is next to the Ichamati River that borders

India and is farther away from the sea than the more southern

Polder 5 in Shyamnagar, Satkhira. The natural salinity level in

this region has been argued to be very high, and therefore

more suitable for aquaculture, particularly saltwater shrimpcalled bagda. The commercial farming of Bagda started slowly in the 1970s and developed extensively

during the 1980s and 1990s. These shrimp farms are locally known as ghers. The field trip to Satkhira

by G3 revealed that saltwater shrimp farming has been constant for more than 25-30 years in the gher

areas. The polders were created to prevent salinity intrusion to the land, preventing agricultural crops

from being destroyed. In order to drain or let in water depending on tidal movements, sluice gates were

created. Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), previously the Water and Power Development

Authority of Pakistan (WAPDA), built these polders with help of donors in the 1960s and were

responsible for authorizing and maintaining these sluice gates. Interestingly, the map below developed

by the Institute of Water Modelling shows a clear discrepancy between formally authorized and built

sluice gates by BWDB and its current use. The red dots indicate pipes and cuts to the polder to let in

Figure 1: Bagda gher in Satkhira

Map 1: Polder 3


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more salt water to the land, the frequencies of pipes and public sluice gates. The turquoise squares

indicate a far greater number of locally created sluice gates

without formal BWDB authorization.

These sluice gates are constantly kept open, even during thedry season, since they do all year cultivation of bagda in the

ghers. G3 visited a village called 800 biggha gram. This village

is surrounded by bagda ghers from all corners. We spoke to a

group of women, including some older widows. There are no

longer any of the local fresh water fish, known as white fish

(rui, katla), fruit trees do not grow and the deep tube well

water is salty. They do

not grow a single

season of paddy,

though in some other

areas of Satkhira paddy is grown during the monsoon season.

Everyone in the womens group had to buy their own food from

the bazaar. The picture illustrated the use of pipes to let in salt

water. One can also see the dry and cracked nature of the soil

(Figure 2), which is quite a difference from the patches of high

elevation lands without any bagda ghers (Figure 3).

In polder 3, Satkhira. Salinity is high naturally and the level of

salinity in the soil is also affected by the large amount of extra sluices and pipes that let in salt water for

the bagda ghers.

Of all the G3 projects, Satkhira district suffers the most from salinity

intrusion, both through natural salinity and man-made actions to

increase salinity in the land. In Khulna, there are also issues of salinity,

but none so prominent and visible as in Polder 3. However, the LGED

sub-project Latabunia in Dumuria is situated between the BWDB polder

29 and Ghangail river and consists of comparatively low elevation land.

There are two main differences between BWDB polders and LGED sub-

projects. The first difference is that BWDB polders consist of areas

above 1000 hectares, while LGED commands areas of 1000 hectares or

less (National Water Policy, 1999:6). LGED sub-projects are thus frequently smaller than BWDB ones.

The second difference is that LGED polders, or mud walls, are both lower and narrower than BWDB

mud walls.

In Latabunia, the sub-project is just outside a BWDB polder that has bothhigher and broader mud walls and is closest to a brackish river. During Aila, the

entire area was flooded and inundated with saltwater, where the small mud

walls could not thwart the power of the incoming floods. In addition to the

salinity caused by this natural disaster, the sub-project also used to cultivate

more bagda shrimp and had more cuts and pipes in the embankment. Since this

greatly exacerbated vulnerability during Aila, the farmers in the area have

increasingly stopped with bagda and tried to shift to paddy again. The monsoon

season and Aman paddy cultivation in fall of 2011 was their first year of

Figure 2: 800 biggha village

Figure 3: High elevation area in Satkhira

Figure 4: Latabunia

Figure 5: Latabunia outside Polder 29


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growing paddy after Aila, a saline resilient IRRI variety. Salinity causes problems to health, access to

water supply and the inability to keep healthy livestock and poultry.

When comparing to neighbouring polder 29 (Figures 5 and 6), the vulnerabilities of Latabunia are

extremely visible and severe.

Figure 6: Inside Polder 29, picture taken from same position but pointing towards polder 29


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2.1.2. Average to High/Increasing

Polder 24 G, Jessore

In Polder 24 G in Keshobpur, Jessore, salinity is an increasing problem that is exacerbated by water

logging. During the past 4 years Dohori village in Shufulgarti has kept the sluice gate constantly open in

an attempt to improve drainage. However, this has increased salinity intrusion. They are nowexperiencing some problems with cultivating white fish, fresh water prawn (galda), paddy (Aush, Aman,

Boro) and fruits (mango, jackfruit gone). Due to salinity they can no longer keep ducks or poultry. In an

attempt to adapt to the changing saline environment, they have tried to start with brackish fish

including bagda. Dohori village cultivated bagda for 5 years but this is now decreasing due to the

problems of virus. Furthermore, bagda is frequently killed by virus, entailing significant financial losses.

Another issue was that they had no previous experience of bagda and had not been not offered training

either by the local government in Keshobpur or by the Department of Fisheries. This made it too

challenging to understand how they could best cultivate bagda. In sum the Dohori villagers spoke of

salinity as a cancer. It disrupts crops and fish cultivation they were familiar too, and adapting via bagda

cultivation has proved too costly. Fortunately, salinity levels have not been so high as to disrupt their

drinking water supply and quality.

Polder 31, Khulna

In Polder 31, Daacope, Khulna the level of salinity depends on elevation, distance from sluice gates and

the type of cultivation system. In addition, due to flooding and river erosion, the polder is not big

enough to fully prevent saline water to enter the fields. Bagda has been cultivated for several years in

polder 31 and there are several illegal pipes and unauthorized sluice gates. G3 visited Pankhali and

Tildanga Union who operate two different types of cultivation systems in regard to bagda and paddy.

In Pankhali union, bagda was cultivated intensely with little rotation to allow for freshwater and paddy.

In 2010, the Pankhali Union Parishad initiated protests against bagda due to increased salinity and

closed the sluice gates. Now people are reverting to paddy cum white fish and galda cultivation.

However, some of the local respondent mentioned that such a shift was only made possible due to theperceived financial loss caused by increased incidents of virus attacks on bagda shrimp.

In Tildanga union, bagda is rotated with paddy. Paddy is grown during the monsoon season and the

communities try to minimize the inflow of salt water by closing the sluice gate during the dry season

when the water is high in salinity and open for drainage. They would also keep the gate open during the

monsson when the water was fresh. This allowed for natural flushing of salt water. There are, however,

conflicts within the community on the continuation of bagda. A few landless respondents said they

would much prefer paddy cultivation and that this helps improve their livelihoods. Without bagda, they

envisage that fruit trees would grow again, avoid health problems caused by ghers, avoid soil damaging

chemicals from ghers, and keep livestock free from diarrhea (due to saline water). Land owners and

especially influential peopls, on the other hand, said that bagda is profitable and this way they benefitfrom both types of cultivation. If 95% of people protest against saline water, there will be no result

because they own so little biggha. There are a lot of andalan, local protests in Tildanga one man

landless man argued. This was disputed by a passing by school teacher who said that people want bagda

and that there are no outside ghers here. Thus, there is a lot of contention versus those concerned with

salinity and those interested in bagda cultivation.


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Jabusha, Khulna

Salinity in Jabusha sub-project

in Rupsha, Khulna depends

highly on the location and level

of elevation of the land. In the

low-land closest to the Jabusha

river, Jabusha village

experiences higher levels of

salinity suitable for its shrimp

processing industry rather than

for any type of crop cultivation.

Deep tube wells are required

for any form of irrigation. In

high elevated inland Elaipur

village, however, there are no

problems of salinity. There they

can grow several seasons of

paddy, fruit trees, white fish

and vegetables. There are

barely any problems of salinity

there. One needs to

differentiate level of salinity

based on the different locations

of villages and unions.

2.1.2. Low to Average/LowIn polders 30, 43-2F and Jainkati, salinity is not a key problem. In this area, paddy is the key crop.

Especially in Barguna (43-2F) and Patuakhali (Jainkati) there are no salt water shrimp ghers and there is

large agreement within the community on how to manage water for the benefit as many people as

possible. The water and river outside is mainly fresh and salinity intrusion is minimal

Figure 7" Jabusha sub-project

Elaipur

Jabusha


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2.2.Water loggingPolder Upazila, District Implementing

Agency

Level of Water logging

1. 24G Keshobpur, Jessore BWDB (KJDRP) High2. 30 Batiaghata, Khulna BWDB, IPSWAM High3. Latabunia sub-project Dumuria, Khulna LGED - SSWRDP High4. Polder 31 Daacope, Khulna BWDB (4th Fisheries) Average to High5. Jabusha sub-project Rupsha, Khulna LGED - SSWRDP Average to High6. Polder 3 Debhata & Kaliganj,

Satkhira

BWDB (informal) Average

7. 43-2F Amtoli, Barguna BWDB, IPSWAM Low8. Jainkathi Sadar, Patuakhali LGED - SSWRDP Low

Table 2: Water logging

2.2.1. High level of water logging24G, Jessore

Keshobpur in Jessore is known for its immense problems with siltation and inundated land. Due to

drainage problems the land is under water for 1-2 months of the year. The polder was built in the 1960s

and the people of Kesobpur were able to harvest good crops for 20 years. In the 1980s, canals, khals,

became increasingly silted leading to an inability to drain the fields. This inundated the land, which

proved negative for crop cultivation. To address the water logging, the Asian Development Bank funded

the Khulna-Jessore Drainage Project, KJDRP. This was a technical solution and started off with little input

from local stakeholders. G3 visited Dohori village in Shufulgarti, where they used a local system of

cutting the polder in strategic places to resemble natural tidal river flows to address the drainage

congestion. This was formalized and now known as the Tidal River Management system that was

implemented with local communities, BWDB and KJDRP. However, for the TRM system, the BWDBacquired large amounts of land from farmers, and the Dohori villagers said that few people have

received compensation for the land acquired for TRM. For them, the purpose of KJDRP-BWDB project in

2000 was not clear. They understood that it was supposed to stop the damages to crops cause by water

logging, but they argue that this did not work. Rather, they are now experiencing increasing problems of

salinity intrusion. One of the villagers stated that the local community managed TRM without BWDB and

were able to fix siltation during 7 years. It was a completely local idea and first implemented in 1991.

When the BWDB participated in the next TRM, it did not work due to financial corruption leading to the

process not being implemented properly. However, TRM led to increased salinity, incentivizing the local

community to rebuild the embankment.

30, Khulna

In Polder 30 there are diverse problems of inundation depending on the elevation of the land. Silted

canals due to inadequate drainage is the common culprit here as well. The IPSWAM project tried to

solve it and there are different perceptions by different stakeholders on whether that worked or not.

One main problem seems to be that some local influential people grab some of the canals for their own

usage, obstructing the access to the canal by others. Furthermore, coordination of regular and thorough

re-excavation of the khals seems to be wanting. G3 will have to investigate further on the different


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causes and effects of the water logging in this area, though it was clear that in many paddy fields water

was not adequately drained.

Latabunia, Khulna

This sub-project is both low in terms of elevation and has a very small and narrow type of mud wall. It is

close to the river and vulnerable to tidal flows coming in, but does not have enough sluice gates and

outlets to let it out. There are some underground pipes to address drainage problems, but the villagers

of Latabunia all wanted a higher and wider mud wall to protect them from the river, especially during

the monsoon season and in case of disasters.

2.2.2. Average water logging

Polder 31, Khulna

During the initial field exposure visit to Polder 31, the inundated lands were not visible from the polder

sites. However, further inland, the villagers of Tildanga said they did have problems of drainage

congestion and water loggings but use an internal system of building small mud barriers to overcome

such issues, especially when water to higher elevated lands leads to inundating lower elevated fields.

More details on this will be collected during the course of the study.

Jabusha sub-project, Khulna

In Jabusha there are drainage problems in different elevations where lower elevations are worse off.

However, currently it does not seem like there is a system of rectifying this.

Polder 3, Satkhira

In Sahela village in Satkhira, the management and ownership of the canal seemed to be a problem. Since

there are no formal water management organizations in this polder, most of the canals are de facto

privately owned. For irrigation water or water for ghers, the farmers must request the owner of the land

where the khal passes, for permission to cut through their land so that water from khal can reach their

land. For this service, they must pay the landowner. Some people can pay, others cannot. When some

people cannot pay, the landowner often closes his land. The effect is that those that are willing and able

to pay, cannot obtain the water they require. This disrupts their cultivation. Water management is

needed. Referring to Khazra khal. Private ownership of khals a major problem since other people

dependent on khal have no say or right to access its water. Alternatively, privately owned khals might

not be properly re-excavated and may also lead to drainage congestion of saline water. The severity of

water logging in Satkhira may also explored further under G3.

2.2.3. No or very mild water loggingIn Polder 43-2F in Barguna and Jainkati sub-project in Patuakhali, drainage congestion was very mild.

There they had working water management committees that were able to decide on when to open

sluice gate and for how long to satisfy the demands of both high and low elevation fields. One of the key

drivers was needs assessment, solidarity with low elevation farmers (many owned both types of fields)


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and that the area under their control was small and manageable. They would inundate low lying lands

for a maximum of 2-7 days to provide water for higher elevated fields, and would then close the gate

before any damage had occurred to the crops.

2.3.Drinking waterPolder Upazila, District Implementing

AgencyDrinking waterproblem

1. Latabunia sub-project Dumuria, Khulna LGED - SSWRDP Yes2. Polder 3 Debhata & Kaliganj,

Satkhira

BWDB (informal) Yes

3. Polder 31 Daacope, Khulna BWDB (4th Fisheries) Yes4. 43-2F Amtoli, Barguna BWDB, IPSWAM Moderate5. Jainkathi Sadar, Patuakhali LGED - SSWRDP Moderate6. Jabusha sub-project Rupsha, Khulna LGED - SSWRDP Minimal7. 30 Batiaghata, Khulna BWDB, IPSWAM Minimal8. 24G Keshobpur, Jessore BWDB (KJDRP) Not applicable9.

Table 3: Drinking water

2.3.1. Yes, drinking water availability and/or quality very difficultLatabunia, Khulna

In Latabunia, drinking water supply is exacerbated by salinity. They suffer from sick livestock that get

diarrhea from the salt water and not even fruit trees can grow. The community consists mostly of

landless that lease or very small farmers. The villagers, especially the women, spend long hours to

collect drinking water from far away tube well. Due to time and energy constraints, sometimes some of

the villagers are unable to collect water from the tube well and instead drink the salt water. Their pondwater is still not fresh after Aila and they do not have the freshwater water needed to grow vegetables,

cook or shower. This in turn leads to less than optimal health effects.

Polder 3

In Sahela village, the water is too saline for drinking. The villagers need to walk for hours each day to

collect water. Those that can afford it use a local vehicle (machine van, a scooter with wooden planks

people can sit on) to stock up on water. One landless woman said that this was beyond her means and

sometimes she did not have the energy to collect water and would just not drink or cook. In 800 biggha

village a local elite from a neighboring village had installed pipelines to a deep tube well for the villagers

to use for a fee of 20-30 taka per month per household. Thus some of the women were not complaining

about drinking water, though they were facing difficulties in accessing water for cooking and showering.The women in the ghers that spend hours in salt water are having some health and skin problems due to

their frequent immersion in high saline water.

Polder 31

In Lokikhula village in Pankhali union, people drink pond water stored from the rain since the ground

water is too saline. They cook with river water (not pond water), though they would prefer not to.


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However, they say if they would take the pond water they would run out of drinking water supply. In

this area, the deep tube wells are mostly brackish. Only in a few places may you find good water. During

the monsoon season, they also do some small scale rainwater harvesting through clay pots. The villagers

had been told by a doctor to use 'fitkeri', a crystal like mineral that purifies water. The villagers seemed

to be aware about the importance of cleaning the clay pots with boiled water and to purify both rain

and pond water for drinking in order to avoid diarrhea.

2.3.2. Mixed/moderate drinking water problems43-2F, Barguna and Jainkati, Patuakhali

In both 43-2F and Jainkati, women stated that they needed more tube wells for drinking. Neither of

them specified on the type of tube well, i.e. whether shallow tube well was sufficient or if deep tube

well was required. None of them mentioned anything about arsenic problems in the ground water. The

woman WMCA member in Jainkati mentioned they the village in the sub-project not only needs tube

wells for drinking but also for irrigation. Her rational was that the water amount is decreasing and has

been steadily doing so for the past 20-30 years. None of the Jainkati participants believed their khals

wouldl be big enough to irrigate their fields naturally in the next 5 years.

2.3.3. No drinking water problems/not applicablePolder 30, Khulna, Jabusha, Khulna and 24G, Jessore

In polder 30, drinking water is a priority and local sources stated that a majority of households have

access to deep tube wells. The more well off have their own deep tube wells and the poorer may access

communal one. In Jabusha, no one mentioned drinking water as a major problem. When speaking to a

landless woman working at a shrimp processing company she stated that she drinks water from a deep

tube well and is not having any issues. However, considering the size of Jabusha sub-project more

investigations can be done to explore this further. In 24G, the FGD participants consisted only of menand due to time constraints we were not able to speak to the women. When asked about drinking

water, the male participants said it was not an issue. However, we cannot be certain of the nature

drinking water problems in this polder without further investigations. Considering increasing salinity

problems and inundation, there might be some problems of water for domestic use even though this

was not the main topic during the conducted FGD.

2.4.River erosionRiver erosion was not a question in our FGD checklist. However, the problem seemed to be reoccurring

and communities from almost all the polders mentioned it as a problem since it would weaken and

break the polder, leading to greater vulnerability during a natural disaster. In polder 31, 43-2F, Jainkati,

Latabunia specifically, this was mentioned as a problem. The causes of river erosion are in many ways

external to polder management. However, the causes of river erosions that actually weaken the polder

must arguably be considered in the actual polder/sub-project design. Nevertheless, the effect of river

erosion in many cases leads to a broken polder that needs to be maintained and fixed. The efficiency of

this is to be discussed in section 3 Polder management and community involvement.


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3. Polder management and community involvement

If the polder breaks, either due to natural disaster or river erosion, or needs to be maintenance, it is theresponsibility of Water Management Organizations (WMOs) to first do minor repairs or alternatively

contact the responsible government agency, which could be either the Bangladesh Water Development

Board (BWDB) or the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). BWDB WMOs consist of Water

Management Groups (WMGs) in each village. Two representatives of each WMG (one male and one

female) in a polder are selected to represent village interests in the Water Management Association

(WMA). From the WMA, twelve people are elected as members of the executive committee. Since LGED

sub-projects are much smaller they only have one level of WMO to represent local stakeholders, the

Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA). From the WMCA an executive committee is

formed. During the field exposure visits, it became evident that in some areas WMOs worked well,

while in others they were only formal facades or not able to function properly. The following sectionlooks at whether WMOs exist and how well they function. In addition, we will look at the role of In

addition to WMOs, there are also Labor Contracting Societies (LCS). At least 25% of all earth works

should be contracted to LCS, groups of either male or women landless people. The earth work is not

limited to polder maintenance and re-excavation of canals (khals), but also that of roads. We will try to

establish whether LCS groups are active and their role in decision-making. Furthermore, the Union

Parishad is the local government institution closest to the communities and we are asking whether

people would want more or less involvement of the Union Parishad or any other government agency.

Finally, we look at the major sources of conflicts and how they are being resolved/issues for their

continuation.

3.1.High level of conflict resolution and broad community involvement

Jainkati, Sadar, Patuakhali

Jainkati is a very small sub-project consisting of only one village and farmers with similar land ownership

structures. The Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) created under the LGED to be

responsible for water management, thus only needs to take into account the interest of one village

instead of many. The WMCA is relatively small, with 65 WMCA 'beneficiaries' and 15 landless. During the

short field exposure visit, we were unable to get the opportunity to speak to the Labor Contracting

Society (LCS) in this sub-project. However, it was made clear that their role was only to execute WMCAdecisions, rather than to give input. Nevertheless, they mentioned that there was a landless member in

the WMCA to represent their views. In this sub-project, LGED is the key government agency. The Union

Parishad is not at all involved in water management. If other government agencies want to organize

trainings they do so via LGED.

The social composition is interesting. The WMCA stated that 98% of villagers are poor and that every

farmer holds a mix of low and high elevation land. This creates an incentive to make sure that there is an


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irrigation and drainage system that is suitable for different elevations. Commonality of interest is quite

strong in this small community, not only between different elevations, but also when it comes to

cultivation. There are no ghers here, everyone is interested in paddy and fresh water cultivation. There

are currently no salt water problems and there is low level of overall conflict. Arguably, this could be

attributed to three things; the khal is public, LGED presence helps facilitate management and the small

size of the sub-project increases the commonality of interest of the local stakeholders. The Executive

Committee of the WMCA looks at needs when deciding when to open or close the sluice gate. For

instance, it may open the sluice gate to allow water for high elevation fields, but closes the gate within a

week so low elevation crops are not destroyed.

The Jainkati sub-project seemed to point towards an area where there is high level of community

involvement and strong conflict resolution, mainly due to high commonality of interests both in terms of

elevations and cropping patterns.

43.2F, Amtoli, Barguna

In polder 43-2F in Amtoli, Barguna there are 27 Water Management Groups in the Water Management

Association. These WMGs were first created by IPSWAM. In the first initial stage, IPSWAN had

conducted door to door surveys on the use of the polder. This was used as a problem demarcation and

the WMGs were created based on commonality of interest. In parallel, block committees were also

created, though not stipulated in the Guidelines for Participatory Water Management (GPWM). The

WMG members are selected via hand raising for the potential candidates. 43-2F seems to be following

the GPWM well and sends 2 WMG representatives to the WMA. In this polder, the Executive Committee

of the WMA hold a strong position in water management. However, there have been some efforts by

political parties (Awami League, Bangladesh National Party) to infiltrate the WMA. As a response,

IPSWAM conducted training and through advocacy of local field staff they were able to resist the push

for politicizing the WMA. There are currently 7 Awami League and 5 BNP followers in the 12 person

Executive committee.

There are functioning LCS groups, both male and female, in the polder with approximately 50 landless

people in each group. They are familiar with term LCS. They are active in the earth works of the polder,

roads and canals. The women LCS group we met was working for an NGO to construct roads at the time

and said they are always involved in different projects. They stated that they would get paid regularly

and on time. IPSWAM has been active in the area since 2004 and the women LCS members very keen on

the continuation of IPSWAM as this would create local employment.

The Union Parishad currently plays no role in water management. Nonetheless, the WMA secretarysuggested that administrative officials should play more of a coordinating role since there is no

interaction with water supply and sanitation in the current scheme of things. This suggestion was

criticized by the present IPSWAM staff who was concerned that this may lead to more corruption,

inefficiency and less power to the WMA.

In contrast to Jainkati, polder 43 is quite large and divided into several zones. 27 WMGs also shows that

there are many more villages in this polder than in the much smaller sub-project. In terms of land


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ownership, 43-2F is more diverse than Jainkati as there is an entire scale from large to medium farmers,

as well as small farmers and landless. Nevertheless, there is little conflict between high and low

elevations since the Executive Committee of the WMA looks at needs assessments and opens and

closes the sluice gate accordingly. Similar to Jainkati, they open the gate to irrigate high elevation fields,

but close it within a week before the crops of the low elevation fields may take adverse effect. Another

similarity is that there is no shrimp-rice conflict. The water is fresh and the majority of people are

interested in paddy. There are no ghers, only fishing in ponds and rivers.

3.2.Medium conflict and medium community involvementPolder 24G, Kesobpur, Jessore

There are currently 64 WMGs in 24G and 1 WMA. The community members we met were of different

opinions of their efficiency and honesty. The functioning of these WMOs must therefore be investigated

further. There are LCS groups in in 2 Upazilas, yet we were not able to meet them. They do minor repairs

but were having issues of getting payment. The issue of water logging, tidal river management and

shrimp farming was covered in the previous section. However, there seems to be problems in regards todeciding when to open and close the sluice gate, as well as figure out what level of salinity they would

prefer. This was an even greater issue when the bagda farming was at a peak, however this seems to be

decreasing due to reduced profitability after virus attacks. In addition, there seems to be conflict

between different elevations, where the low elevation fields are flooded. How this is mitigated by WMA

or WMG is not clear. What is evident is that TRM seems to be working for drainage purposes, but it is

increasing salinity. The path for 24G is not clear and it is a much more complicated landscape than either

Jainkati or 43-2F. The polder is much bigger and consists of communities and community members with

conflicting interests, either based on cultivation choices or elevations. Furthermore, social divisions

between classes seem stronger here. Where we visited was still quite affluent with a middle class that

could afford that the women are inside, we were not able to meet with them. They also seem to bedistanced from the Union Parishad and other local government agencies such as BWDB due to

geography. There were therefore some discussions on how no one listens to their concerns.

In many ways there is scope for community involvement, the strongest example being the indigenous

TRM system. However, this was created bottom up from the communities rather than through any

formal WMG. It is therefore pertinent to keep in mind that in some instances informal community

participation might work better than formal ones. It is the task of the G3 problem identification to

understand why the formal WMOs in the 24G may be experiencing some problems and how this can be

resolved.

Polder 30, Batiaghata, Khulna

Similar to 24G, there was a disagreement in Polder 30 on the efficiency of WMGs, WMAs and IPSWAM.

Also, there was some complaints on the polder construction itself as a root cause for water logging. One

man argued that "the copying and extrapolation of a system for Netherlands lowlands is unsuitable for

Bangladeshs ecology which is different." In many instances the villagers managed the opening and

closing of sluice gates themselves. In Hartbari village there was no functioning management system and

the khals had been grabbed by local influential men using it for their own purposes without considering


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the implications of their actions on the other users of the khals. During the field visit, we did not meet

with any of the formal WMA people, instead we spoke to local people close to the sluice gates. They saw

it as an opportunity to pour out their frustrations. The land ownership here is uneven, with highly

influential people versus poorer small farmers that are being denied access to water. There is no formal

system for them to complain and seek retribution. Unlike Jainkati and 43-2F, some places of polder 30

seem unable to resolve the issues of low versus high elevation irrigation and drainage. Polder 30 is fairly

big and each village has its own characteristics. Through further investigations in polder 30 we may be

enabled to create a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of the water management and conflicts

in the area.

Jabusha, Rupsha, Khulna

The efficiency and functionality of WMOs was contested also in Jabusha where different people held

different opinions. One tea keeper stated that it works in a similar was as stipulated in the Guidelines for

Participatory Water Management. This was contested by another participant who said that he had

never heard of WMCAs. When it was stated that the WMCA was open for all, he questioned why he hadnever received an invitation. Most people did not know about this water management association,

especially not in Jabusha village. However, it was more known in the more effluent Elaipur village, where

the WMG consists mainly of land owners. Though a sub-project, Jabusha is fairly large with five different

villages in different elevations linked to the same khal. The land ownership structure is mixed between

large to medium land owners and landless. Low elevation Jabusha village seems content with shrimp

processing and Elaipur is relatively prosperous. It is therefore not clear whether there is a conflict per se.

Latabunia

In Latabunia we met small farmers and landless. When asked about water management, they said they

had 5 WMGs. However, it is en LGED sub-project with only 1 village, so it is not clear whether they were

perhaps confused with the terms of WMCA, LCS etc. In any case, these groups or committees are

responsible for minor repairs. The Union Parishad chairman is not involved in any way, nor did they

seem to want the UP to be involved stating 'it would increase the numbers of thieves'. The majority of

people in Latabunia are either very small farmers or landless individuals. Commonality of interest seems

high, but so is the level of vulnerability. The entire area was devastated during Aila. It consists of low

elevation land, is closer to a saline river and their lack of prosperity gives them little weight to negotiate.

They did attempt to do bagda ghers before through leasing etc. This led to pipes and cuts weakening the

embankment in order to increase salinity intrusion for shrimp farms. The destruction during Aila created

some incentive to shift more towards paddy and their yields are growing each year. However, the main

issue is that they are highly vulnerable during disasters and floods as they are situated outside a polder

and on low elevated land.

3.3.High level of conflict and power inequalityPolder 3

There are no formal water management organizations in Polder 3, Satkhira. However, there are informal

arrangements in some areas with sluice gate committees or Union Parishad being involved. The most


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visible issue in Satkhira is the level of salinity and the widespread cultivation of bagda shrimp. Most of

the committees manage the sluice gates in way that lets in salt water for bagda cultivation. In Khan Zia

bazaar, we met one of these committees. Amongst them was a paddy farmer present and said he had

no issues with it because he used a system to bind his own fields so that they would not be affected.

This type of arrangement has also been mentioned in polder 5 Shyamnagar. In some unions, the UP is

involved in water management, while in others it may not.

The power structure is highly uneven. Some families own 10 000 biggha of bagda gher, while in the

same community there are landless people that have no right or voice regarding the use of water. This is

justified through the argument that since landless people own no land, they have no right to voice their

opinions because the land and canals are not theirs. Instead, they must adapt to the actions of others.

Many landless people have thus migrated away due

to the lack of opportunities to sustain themselves.

Paddy farming, on the other hand, creates more

employment opportunity and also adds to the local

food production. Food and drinking water are real

problems for the majority of people, especially poor

and disadvantaged groups. There is a lack of safe

drinking water due to salinity in the ground water. In

addition most people need to buy most of their food

from the bazaar rather than from growing it through

their own homestead gardens and fruit trees. Yet

they see no other option than to grow saltwater shrimp. Is the reason economic or socio-political? In

two different focus groups, we asked why they do not stop shrimp cultivation if salinity is such a

problem for their livelihoods. In both groups the same argument was used: they said that if they would

stop with shrimp farming, it would take 5 years for the soil to recover for paddy to be able to grow

again. When this is the case, how would they be able to sustain themselves for those 5 years? How true

this is may be contested as it has not been tested. However, in Latabunia, polders 31 and 24G, shifts

away from Bagda have been able to yield paddy harvests after one monsoon season. Power is also a

reason, when shrimp farming is more profitable for the rich, they have the means to enforce a salt water

shrimp system. There have been many incidences of land grabbing, violence and intimidation stretching

back from the 1980s until the 2000s. Now the entire area is mostly shrimp with very little resistance. The

poor are the key sufferers, but also the ones with the least voice to complain or change the situation

since they do not own any of the means of production.

Polder 31

In Polder 31 it was argued that the WMGs are only formal show and that they do not fulfill any real

function or responsibility. In Tildanga union they had an ex sluice gate keeper and the participants

mentioned that the BWDB was active for a few years, with a committee that worked for 1.5 years and

then became inactive. However, it was apparently difficult to contact the BWDB. This could be a

reference to the Fourth Fisheries project. The Union Parishad in Pankhali is very active in water

management; it was the key actor in closing the sluice gate function for salinity intrusion. The Union


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Parishad was able to stop Bagda also because it was increasingly seen as less profitable due to virus and

people started to realize the long term consequences of salinity intrusion when they saw their fruit trees

dying. Also in Tildanga Union, we saw an active involvement of the UP chairman. Here, the UP was given

funds by BWDB to repair damages caused by Aila. However, it was revealed that people were not given

money for their work, nor was the budget publicly shared.

In terms of social composition, polder 31 holds a mix of large to medium land owners and landless. Here

the poorer people own the low elevation land. In Pankhali Union they stopped with Bagda 2010, while in

Tildanga they are using a rotating system. There is a disagreement on whether this is good or bad. Some

landless people in Tildanga voiced that bagda is destroying their livelihoods, pointing to a conflict

between bagda ghers and landless paddy farmers despite a rotational system. There is also a conflict

between the two unions of Pankhali and Tildanga over the control of the sluice gate named Lokhikhala.

Polder 31 is interesting in the sense that it is an example of different practices of shrimp and paddy,

while also inhabiting two very distinct unions with their own approaches and solutions.

Conclusion

iwmi draft polder overview report

Documents