Coastal families face pirates and market inflation

Khulna Correspondent :

Nearly one million low- and middle-income residents across two coastal districts are reeling under the twin pressures of river piracy and spiralling prices of essential commodities.

Most of those affected are shrimp farmers and forest-dependent workers whose livelihoods hinge on the Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal.

For them, survival is a daily negotiation with risk – from armed gangs operating in remote waterways to a marketplace increasingly tilted against the poor.

Despite successive governments promising long-term plans and incentives for sustainable forest-dependent communities, locals say little has changed on the ground. Grand declarations and token stimulus packages, they argue, have done little to shield them from extortion, insecurity, and relentless inflation. Their lives, marked by uncertainty and hardship, read like a chronicle of neglect.

With Eid approaching, there is little sign of festivity in these fragile households. Instead of joy, many families are bracing for deeper financial strain as food, fuel and other daily necessities remain beyond reach.

According to local sources, the situation has been compounded by alleged middlemen syndicates that control supply chains and drive up prices.

Residents in Khulna’s Dakop, Paikgachha, Koyra and Batiaghata upazilas, as well as Satkhira’s Shyamnagar, Ashashuni, Kaliganj, Debhata and Tala, say they are bearing the brunt of market manipulation and weak oversight.

For these coastal communities, trapped between lawlessness in the waterways and volatility in the market, resilience is no longer enough. What they seek now is effective protection, fair pricing, and policies that move beyond rhetoric to restore dignity to lives tethered to the forest and the sea.