Enhancing flood risk management initiatives

Rain is a blessing of the nature. Floods are natural events occurring in many parts of the world each year to fertilise the plains. The south-western summer monsoon occurs from June to September. The Bay of Bengal part of southwest monsoon flows over the Bay heading towards northeast India and Bangladesh, picking up more moisture from the sea. The winds arrive at the eastern Himalayas with large amounts of rain. Bangladesh and certain regions of India frequently experience heavy floods during this season.
Given hydrology, climatic factors and geology, Bangladesh is naturally prone to floods. Floods are annual phenomena with the most severe ones occurring during the months of June to September. Floods in this country had caused huge devastation, affecting the most impoverished, who had lived on the fringes at great risk. The poor always face untold sufferings and difficulties to cope with and overcome the huge losses incurred.
However, Bangladesh has developed capacities in flood management and demonstrated some successes in this regard. But there are still gaps, limitations and challenges in the field of resource mobilisation and its effective utilisation, sustaining community efforts and replicating good practices to reduce overall flood risks of the country. Some recommendations have been made to the concerned stakeholders for an enhanced flood risk reduction in Bangladesh.
EARLY WARNING SYSTYEM: Early flood warning system has to be strengthened with active participation of community leaders. Proper linkage among the Bangladesh Water Development Board, community-based organisations and local government authorities is needed to get periodical river water rise/fall data, relevant to the area, as soon as the monsoon sets in. Selected and interested persons of the vulnerable communities might be involved in sharing the same with the community at large to assist in their alertness and over-all preparation. Direct intervention of the local NGOs (non-governmental organisations) in conjunction with the local government authorities might be encouraged in this respect. Existing cross-country cooperation on early flood warning systems should be strengthened.
CONTINGENCY PLANNING: Contingency planning at different levels for emergency response should be developed and updated at least once a year focusing on risk areas and vulnerability status and making available resources and capacity, apart from other requisite elements that feature in such a plan. Emergency fund mobilisation needs to be encouraged in this area by relevant actors, particularly NGOs, with its proper management and plan. Emergency stores need to be established and maintained by local government organisations, NGOs and social organisations to ensure prompt and effective disaster response. Emergency store should contain emergency housing materials (quality polythene sheets), tents, life jackets, water purifiers, alum, medical supplies (including intravenous fluids and oral rehydration salts) and sufficient equipment for emergency personnel to evacuate people without luggage in an emergency and also installation of latrines, availability of processed bamboos for rebuilding of houses, megaphones, kerosene lanterns, hachaks (large kerosene lights) and pipes and other equipment for installing tube-wells.
BASIC TRAINING COURSES: Basic training courses on flood risk reduction are needed after proper analysis and planning for volunteers, managers, workers, government officials, local government representatives and media personnel. About 50 per cent of them should be women. Specialised training sessions are needed for relevant personnel for the respective areas.
It is urgent to build embankments and take river protection initiatives with appropriate feasibility and cost-benefit analysis by independent authorities. Public hearing and consultation are important in this regard. Extensive river dredging programmes should be taken with proper technical and economic analysis and community participation to remove sediments from river beds deposited during flood. These will increase the water holding capacity of the drainage systems and to raise water flow capacity. The dredged sediment may be used to raise the level of land with proper planning.
The Disaster Management Act and the Standing Orders on Disasters (SODs) of the government of Bangladesh should be understood and executed by all concerned with appropriate resources, planning, and monitoring and accountability mechanism.
The vulnerability of communities living in the most flood-prone areas could be reduced by construction of community-managed, women and children-friendly flood shelters with basic water and sanitation facilities.  Building homesteads and cluster villages towards insulating the flood-affected people against hazards of passing miserable days in submerged situation such as climate-proof development, land use planning, ecosystem services etc are needed. Tube-well sinking and sanitary latrine setting on high lands as well as provision of kitchen gardening in the raised homesteads/cluster villages and flood shelters, to ensure sound and disease-free health and to promote additional sources of earning. Seed processing and storage, fodder storage system, and bamboo processing and propagation to serve specially the post-disaster needs are to be promoted.
ALTERNATIVE JOB OPPORTUNITIES: New initiatives are required by NGOs and relevant government departments to identify alternative employment opportunities, diversify income-generating activities and livelihood opportunities with proper risk reduction analysis and consultation with vulnerable communities. Feasibilities of enterprise development and its market need to be done for the areas. Enterprise development activities require large amount of financial involvement. Therefore, linkage development with financial institutions to ensure financial support is important.
Integrating flood risk reduction in existing development works with future initiatives of different government departments and others working in the area is a must. The concerned authorities should develop disaster database which is very important to carry out detailed study and planning. The government orgnisations and NGOs need to redesign their development programmes with active participation of the most vulnerable communities to ensure that they maximise hazard mitigation potential and incorporate traditional community coping practices.
Proper resources from central government and development partners should be ensured by the authorities and policymakers.
Ensuring sufficient livestock and poultry vaccines as well as extension support for agriculture in the flood- prone areas, particularly in remote areas, is important.
CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVES: The respective authorities at different levels should strengthen capacity building initiatives of the local government. A well-organised effort is needed to further strengthen decentralised planning, implement decision-making process and allocate resources to local government for disaster risk reduction and climate-proof programmes in vulnerable locations. Fruitful linkages should be established between relevant government institutions, elected local government authorities, NGOs and other social groups engaged in flood vulnerability alleviation activities.
Replication of tested flood preparedness interventions could reduce vulnerability of the most flood-prone communities to floods and river erosion. The media should play a more sensitive and effective role in highlighting vulnerabilities and potential risks of most poverty and flood-stricken areas and tested flood risk reduction initiatives for appropriate attention of policymakers.
CROSS-BORDER APPROACH: Big river systems like the Ganges and the Brahmaputra do not recognise political borders as they flow across China, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. A cross-border approach to flood management is very much needed to protect development gains and most vulnerable communities of Bangladesh and the neighbouring countries.
The views expressed in the article are the writer's own and do not reflect those                      of the office he works with.  farid.hasan2008@gmail.com