Climate change forcing thousands in Bangladesh into slums of Dhaka

[marmar]

from the Toronto Star:



Climate change forcing thousands in Bangladesh into slums of Dhaka
Climate change refugees struggle to survive in slums of Dhaka. The city faces a population explosion, with inadequate infrastructure.

By: Raveena Aulakh Global Environmental reporter, Published on Sat Feb 16 2013


DHAKA, BANGLADESH—Taslima Masud faces a dilemma every morning: should she prepare food or stay hungry to avoid illness?

“The kitchen is so close to the toilet,” she says. “When I cook, I can’t smell the curry but I can smell the toilet. It disgusts me every day, but there is nothing I can do except . . . not cook. And I have to cook.”

Masud, 19, lives in Korail, Dhaka’s largest slum. Its roughly 70,000 residents dwell in the shadow of the affluent Gulshan neighbourhood, with its mansions, restaurants and western-style shopping centres.

Masud, her husband Mohammed, and their year-old daughter Karima share a one-room shanty that can be crossed in two strides. It is made of corrugated steel sheets held up by wooden poles. A bed takes up a large portion of the room and a battered TV sits in one corner. In another corner are Masud’s dishes. The kitchen, a cramped space with a couple of shelves, is in the back, about a metre from a toilet shared by two dozen other families. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/16/climate_change_forcing_thousands_in_bangladesh_into_slums_of_dhaka.html

[pscot]

1. Stop having babies

Oh nevermind.