Suffering in landslide hit areas continues
The tragedy of Tuesday's devastating landslides that killed at least 146 people in Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachhari, Chittagong and Cox's Bazar is not over. As with such catastrophes, apart from the danger of more landslides with torrential rains recurring, people of the region continue to suffer the post-disaster crises. This includes punishing shortage of food, fuel and water due to disruption of connections.
Our paper reports a bleak scenario in Rangamati, for instance, where people are living without water supply for three consecutive days and in some parts, without any clean drinking water and proper sanitation. With road communications cut off, food is in short supply and prices of essentials have skyrocketed. Fuel stocks have dried up. Such shortages are quite predictable after such a huge disaster and we are concerned about whether the response to it from the authorities has been prompt enough. As if losing loved ones, homes and personal belongings was not enough, now the people of these areas are having to live without power, water, food as well as basic healthcare facilities.
We urge the authorities to accelerate the relief and rehabilitation efforts. This includes providing immediate open market sale (OMS) of food, clean drinking water for people, alternative arrangements to restore power (for example, by getting fuel through waterways) and medicine free of cost. In addition, the authorities must formulate a plan to repair the roads so that communication with Chittagong (from where food and other essentials come in) is restored. We urge all out efforts by the government to bring back some semblance of normalcy to these people who have lost so much.
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