Under HI-AWARE, ICIMOD partner the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) conducted research in the Teesta floodplains to understand the specific requirements of those affected by floods every year, especially relating to housing. They have piloted a Climate- and Flood-Resilient Housing (CFRH) project that entails the raising of earthen foundations, the use of flood-resilient building material for housing, and the provision of homestead gardening, among other options, to test whether it sustains itself as a safe haven for occupants during floods.

The issue

In Bangladesh, which is downstream of three major rivers in the South Asia region – the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna – floods occur every year, as both flash floods and seasonal long-stay floods, which inundate an average of 26,000 sq km or 18 percent of the total area of Bangladesh annually. In the Teesta floodplains, although protected from floods by existing embankments on its right bank, some areas remain waterlogged, and the breaching of embankments during each monsoon has become a regular phenomenon.

The formerly cyclical pattern of floods seems to have been disrupted by the changing climate and anthropogenic activities. This has made communities, especially those living on Char lands (small river islands or sand bars in the middle of rivers and their banks), extremely vulnerable to floods. Communities suffer loss of livelihoods, agricultural produce, and habitation caused by flowing flood waters or inundation.

Kaunia Upazila, located in the northwest district of Rangpur, is a floodplain downstream of the Teesta River, where Char lands are regularly affected by seasonal floods, riverbank erosion, thunderstorms, droughts, heat, and cold waves.

It is here that BCAS, along with its partner, C4RE Services Ltd., has been conducting action research on CFRH in one cluster each in two villages, namely Char Dhushmara and Char Haibat Kha, which are affected by seasonal floods each year. There is thus a need to introduce a solution that addresses the loss of habitation and livelihoods that essentially renders people stranded, pushing them back into the depths of poverty.

The two villages were selected because Char Dhushmara is situated on the left bank of the Teesta, while Char Haibat Kha is on the right bank. Both villages are situated a few kilometres apart downstream of the Teesta Bridge at Kaunia.

The solution

The CFRHs have the following characteristics:

• Houses have been elevated on raised plinths, with facilities for sanitation, safe drinking water, and small, household-level livelihood interventions for poultry, livestock, and homestead gardens.
• The raised earthen foundation has been fortified with various grass species and fruit trees to act as a natural barrier against soil erosion.
• Improved cooking stoves (ICS) and solar panels are additional features that cater to energy needs.
• Skill-development training on homestead gardening, poultry rearing, and handicrafts has been provided as part of implementation.

To build local capacity, the interventions include the following:

• Local masons have been given training on building CFRH structures and slope protection.
• Local carpenters have been trained in wood and bamboo preservation to make these building materials of CFRH as well.
• A manual on developing climate- and flood-resilient construction materials and technologies has been developed.

Another remarkable type of CFRH for this area is the portable wooden house. These houses have been widely used in flood-prone areas of the Ganges floodplains, especially in Shariatpur, Munshiganj, and Faridpur in Bangladesh.

The house normally make use of lohakath (iron wood) (Xylia dolabriformis) for pillars, plain iron sheet painted white for the walls, and corrugated iron sheet for the roof. However, lohakath is quite expensive. Therefore, the HI-AWARE pilot has sought to reduce this cost by using locally available eucalyptus (Eucalyptus regnans) or other low-cost wood seasoned to last long in humid weather. Two such houses are under construction in Char Haibat Kha. The cost of a normal two-storey 3×6 m2 house with locally available woods may be as low as US$ 3,000 if local low-cost wood is used.

Impact and uptake

Despite the damages to more than 530,000 low houses and other infrastructure through August 20, 2017, the CFRHs did not face inundation in the floods of July and August 2017. However, minor damages were caused to the pilot houses. For example, the hedgerow plantation at the Char Dhushmara cluster was partially damaged due to erosion by flood waters. The homestead garden was also partially damaged at the Char Dhushmara cluster due to people from neighbouring submerged houses taking shelter there, along with their domestic livestock and poultry. Conversely, this can be regarded as an indicator of the effectiveness of the pilot, as it was able to shelter flood-affected people in the event of an emergency. The families living in these CFRH houses have expressed the utmost satisfaction and have appreciated the comfort that these houses afford.

Important indicators also include the demand for the CFRH technology from within the community and outside, along with the development of a market for raw materials and trained labour in the near term. Eventually, upscaling this pilot could bring relief from inundation and livelihood insecurity to the region’s flood-affected residents and provide habitat security, including access to basic amenities, water, and sanitation, even during floods and inundation.

Contributors

Ahmed Tahmid Raihan, Farjana Khanam, Tanvir Hassan, Md. Abu Syed,  Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS)

Nuvodita Singh, ICIMOD

Biplob Das, C4RE Services Ltd

Further reading/information

Climate and Flood Resilient Housing: Kaunia Upazila Teesta River Basin, Bangladesh [Infosheet]. (2017)