Coping with flood conditions
THE flood situation appears to have taken a bad turn in the central regions of the country, even though some improvement is noticeable in the north. Overall, there is a feeling, based on Met office reading of the situation, that the worst may well be behind us. But this is the time that flood water is flowing down deltaic Bangladesh bringing in its wake all kinds of problems. Indeed, reports coming in from the affected areas speak of submerged localities, marooned people and an outbreak of such diseases as dysentery and diarrhoea with waters receding. Obviously, there is now a need for relief operations to be in place and in full gear.
As one understands, however, the state of relief is none too good; efforts on a bigger scale are needed to meet the multiple challenges. In such a situation, it will not be amiss or unnatural to expect the political parties, with their countrywide network, to come forward in their own way with relief materials for the succour of the distressed. Additionally, there is the question of what the many NGOs, which have always been part of the relief process, can do to alleviate the sufferings of the people. One, of course, understands the peculiarity of a situation where a state of emergency may not exactly allow the parties and the NGOs to work freely. It is here that the government must come forth with reassurances. This is important, for apart from diseases, there is the problem of river erosion that has put whole families in a state of grave difficulty because of the threats posed to their homesteads. At the same time, the prices of essential commodities have been going up in the affected areas, thus creating a dark possibility of pauperisation for those affected.
All of this calls for a concerted, well-devised strategy not only for the present but also by way of post-flood rehabilitation of the hard-hit farmers. We are yet to devise any flood shelter schemes in the way that we have had cyclone shelter schemes. The time is therefore here and now for such schemes to be undertaken. With some housing schemes already on in certain char areas and proving efficacious too, it makes sense for such projects to be replicated in flood-prone areas.
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