Unrelenting floods
Communications
system throughout the country, especially rail tracks and highways, has
been damaged
in many areas
With floodwaters gradually moving towards the Bay of Bengal from the north, fresh midland areas of the country have begun to get flooded. According to the relief and disaster management ministry, about 32 lakh people in 21 districts have been affected by floods with about 1.72 lakh hectares of cultivable land going under water. Some 4.11 lakh people took shelter in the 1,599 shelter centres opened by the government. In terms of relief distribution, the government has been reported to have allocated 3,255 tonnes of rice and Tk 1.32 crore for the flood victims since August 9.
However, the overall flood situation is yet to be stable despite a slight improvement of the scenario in the northern districts of Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha in the last couple of days. Communications system throughout the country, especially rail tracks and highways, has been damaged in many areas.
The point, however, is the relentlessness of the situation cannot be overestimated. Things can get even worse if water levels keep rising further, which will result in inundation of newer areas. The immediate challenge, therefore, is to reinforce flood protection systems in the potentially risky areas and stand beside the flood affected victims. Measures should be taken to reduce human casualties to a minimum, and for this it is necessary to move the victims to safe places, provide them with necessary supplies, and arrange for post-flood rehabilitation.
With the floodwater expected to decrease in a week or two, the major issues will need to be addressed the earliest. Besides rehabilitation, the government must work for collective response mechanism for the future in tackling floods. So far the government has adopted mostly short-term and stop-gap measures to handle the repeated environmental disaster this year, but it needs to be clarified that flood is not just a product of rainfall or onrush of water from upstream anymore. It also involves complex issues such as land use, river management, environmental destruction and climactic changes due to climate change.
We have often been labelled as a disaster resilient nation, and with the growing incidence of natural disasters we have to become even more resilient to floods. Its time we get serious right away.
