Midnight's sun in Kurigram: Improving the lives of char residents with solar power

The soft jingle of the bells, hanging from the horse's neck, was putting me to sleep. I was tired from an overnight bus journey from Dhaka and the wheels of the bamboo cart seemed to have been rolling on the uneven, sandy road forever.

Once we entered the village, the horse-drawn cart stopped with a thud. We jumped down, our shoes and pants already layered with grey dust. We were in Ghughumari Char (a char is a riverine or sandbar island) in Shaheber Alga Union, Ulipur Upazila, Kurigram district. 

From Kurigram Sadar, it was a 45-minute journey to Chilmari Bandar (river port). From there, it was an hour-long boat journey on the Brahmaputra River to Ghughumari Char. Finally, a 30-minute ride on horse-drawn carts took us to the village. 

Layers of warm clothes and scarves, hats etc were not enough to battle the freezing wind blowing all over the char. We looked like aliens compared to the villagers clad in a thin sweater or shawl.

Sitting in the middle of three Upazilas - Rowmari, Chilmari and Ulipur, Ghughumari is perhaps one of the most remote char areas in Kurigram where electricity from the national grid may never come. 

But with the help of Friendship, an NGO working with 250 chars in the country, and Standard Chartered Bank, a 'solar village' was set up here under the project titled 'Environmental sustainability by homestead tree plantation, ensuring safe drinking water and electricity connection (Solar Village),' helping 150 households (almost 750 beneficiaries) among the 450 in the area with solar power.  

There are around 192 solar panels, each generating 300 watts of electricity. The cost is Tk3.75 per unit.  

The project, which began in 2022 and is now complete, also ensured tree plantation across 150 households (1,350 tree saplings were given) as well as 60 tubewell installations. 

Like any char, there are miles of empty areas with green grass or runners covering the ground. 

But closer to the village are fields of mustard with bright yellow flowers. There are corn fields too with long, dark green stalks, as well as plenty of peanut plants. These are three of the main crops, along with legumes like mashkolai dal cultivated during winter.   

In the middle of one of the picturesque mustard fields, an irrigation pump was roaring. Solar power is also used for irrigation pumps, hugely benefitting the residents who are mostly farmers. 

From hurricane lamps to bulbs, and a yearning for a high school

A young girl, no more than five years of age, was tightly hugging her book and walking towards her house when I tried to converse with her. 

Schools in Northern Bangladesh were supposed to be closed that day because of a coldwave and the temperature dropped down to less than 10 degrees. But Jim, as was her name, was determined to go to her class.

A student of shishu sreni (nursery) at the only school in Ghughumari (also built by Friendship), both her parents were busy working in peanut fields. "I have light in my house. At night, I read books under it, and my mother cooks."  

14-year-old Md Ariful Islam remembers using a hurricane lamp at night even a few years ago. Now, "I can use a fan during summer, charge our phone. Everything has completely changed."  

Not only solar power, but Friendship has also been working in Ghughumari Char for more than a decade under different projects including community health, education, agriculture etc. 

Environmental sustainability is always a key concern in char areas and Ghughumari is no different. Most of the trees distributed under the environmental sustainability project are flood-prone. 

We visited houses with large cement bowls of vermicompost (the methods were taught by Friendship) outside. These are used to cultivate vegetables etc and they reduce the use of chemical pesticides. 

To help farmers with market linkage and ensure they get a fair price for their crops, Shafiqul Islam, a resident of Ghughumari, has been trained under the project. He sells seeds, fertilisers etc to them and also advises them on pre and post-harvestment. He has a soil-testing kit as well. 

Every two weeks or once a month, farmers also gather in a spot and have discussions on crop cultivation, cattle rearing etc. One such discussion was held in our presence where the participation of female farmers was impressive. 

Two of them, Jui and Hena, approached us at the end of the discussion. "We have a small request. Our children have no high school; they have to take long boat rides to other chars to attend one. Is there anything you can do for us?"

Fighting off flood with a plinth settlement 

Khamar Bashpata in Aushtamir Char, Chilmari Upazila, Kurigram district is a char benefitting from the 'Improving climate-impacted rural livelihood through agricultural support across 36 chars/villages' project supported by Friendship and Standard Chartered Bank. 

The project is supporting 7,000 farmers affected by climate change in the northern and southern parts of Bangladesh. 

Something as trivial as electricity, which we take for granted in cities, can make a huge difference in the lives of char residents, and it was evident in Khamar Bashpata with its electric poles. The villagers were visibly wealthier, the houses bigger in size and almost every household owned cattle. 

In fact, Mofizul Haque (Mandir), an elderly community leader who claimed to be one of the biggest landowners in the char, said that there are more than 3,000 cattle here. 

In 2022, out of 382 chars in five districts in northern Bangladesh - Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogura, Jamalpur and Sirajganj, 287 chars were flooded. Residents of Khamar Bashpata are also anticipating a flood in the coming monsoon but this year, a plinth settlement may be able to save them and their cattle and poultry. Locals also call it go-maath (cattle field) or abashon (housing). 

Raised above the ground by almost 10 ft, the plinth settlement is an oval-shaped plateau. Scientifically proven to withstand flood waves, this technique has long been used in flood-prone areas. There are tube wells and latrines built on it. Now that it is not fully used, it looks almost like a large, green stadium. 

Around 25 families can live here and some already are. Sharmin is living on the plinth with her husband and two children. 

She is perhaps in her early 20s and already, river erosion has displaced her more than 12 times; sometimes it happened twice a month. The thought of a flood doing the same worries her, but the plinth might be a saviour. 

"Last time when the char flooded, my house was flooded as well. Every time we have to relocate somewhere, the whole house has to be taken with us. But sometimes there is not enough time to take the tube wells or latrines. However, this time it may not happen [because of the plinth]."

Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs, brand and marketing at Standard Chartered Bangladesh said that their ultimate objective is to make the lives of char residents better.

"Standard Chartered has been operating in Bangladesh for more than 119 years [Standard Chartered's acquisition of Grindlays Bank in August 2000, it inherited a presence in Bangladesh that dates back to 1905]. So, we are basically a very local bank in that respect. 

Other than banking, we want to stand by the people of Bangladesh and we do that by giving back to the community through these initiatives. We have projects in health, education and specifically, environment-related issues." 

"We have been working with Friendship in the health sector for a long time and they approached us saying that there are a lot of unmet needs in chars. Environment is something we are very keen to explore so tubewell installations for drinking water, green coverage etc were discussed. 

We wanted to do something different than the other donors, so that is when the topic of solar power came in because these are such hard-to-reach areas," she said.  

On our way back to Chilmari Port, as I watched the sunset on the cold, blue river, I wondered if, amidst the hustle and bustle of our urban lives, we would remember the char people and their everyday struggle to survive.