Abstract:

The suffering of the coastal people is continued for longer period in Bangladesh .Out of three major human physical requirements - food, water and sanitation, and shelter, the present study exclusively covered the gender aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) situation in post-cyclone Aila period in Southwestern Bangladesh. Data were collected using different approaches like individual interview, Key Informant Interview, Focus Group Discussion and field observation. Study reveals that women were needed to travel 500 m ~ 2 km per day to fetch water from safe water sources spending 30~90 minutes time per day. People used pit and hanging latrines, uncovered water framed latrines as well as had open defecation. Considering the important and immediate response, government and other aid giving agencies focused on immediate WaSH programme. For recovery of the WaSH system, the two-part strategy was followed where one was to make technology that supporting social arrangement (tubewell, pond sand filter, saline purification and rainwater harvesting plants) and another was social arrangement that supporting technology (group formation, adolescent club formation, capacity building on construction and maintenance). A Techno Social Contingent (TSC) Model has been followed for addressing the post-disaster WaSH situation. The main finding is that although there was a technical challenge to overcome the water and sanitation crisis after the disaster a set of appropriate technologies could remove it considerably but a corresponding social arrangement was required there to operate it. Many kinds of techcal and social limiting factors were there for women that could be removed partly but not totally.