Fighting the flood together
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Syed Fattahul Alim
BANGLADESH at this moment is facing the worst visitation by flood in many years. The flood has engulfed 38 districts, or 33 according to another estimate. It has affected about 10 million people, destroyed fishery resources worth Tk 2.0 billion, damaged crops and vegetables on more than 7.6 million hectares of land, caused deaths to more than 250 people and afflicted thousands with waterborne diseases. During the last few days, hopes have been running high among the meteorologists that the worst nightmare may at last be over as the floodwaters have been showing signs of recession from most parts of the inundated areas.
While all concerned are preparing for the post-flood rehabilitation activities, reports of fresh flooding caused by torrential rains and flash floods are also coming in.
The situation has deteriorated in Gopalganj, Sylhet and Sunamganj as heavy downpour and rainwater coming down from the hills has inundated fresh areas. The Modhumati river in Gopalganj is flowing 17 cm above the danger mark. Strong current has caused flood protection embankment at Gobra to burst flooding vast swathe of land under the upazila. Torrential rains and flash flood have worsened the situation again in Sylhet and Sunamganj. Civil surgeon's office of Netrakona has informed that the area has come under fresh attack from diarrhoea where 107 mobile medical teams have started working in the flood affected areas.
Meanwhile, the waters of Jamuna and Brahmaputra have started to recede. Though the situation in Jamalpur has improved, the flood has left its devastating impact in its wake all over the district disrupting communications and damaging roads, houses and standing crops.
Manikganj, on the other hand, is facing severe crisis of drinking water. People are getting infected with waterborne diseases as the floodwater is subsiding. In Chandpur, the river Meghna is flowing 25 cm below the danger level, excepting the low-lying areas as well as the char lands. This district, too, is facing paucity of drinking water.
Countless houses have been washed away under four unions by the river Padma, which has burst its banks in Kushtia. Erosion of Padma has taken a serious turn as no step has so far been taken to repair the broken flood protection embankment.
However, reports say that the situation has been improving in Mymensingh.
The onrush of floodwaters around the capital city struck fear in the hearts of many city-dwellers that they might be bracing for an experience similar to the flood of 1988 or 1998. The nightmare, however, is yet to be over as heavy rains have again started falling frequently in the city as elsewhere in the county.
The situation till Sunday was that water from the inundated areas around Dhaka city was receding.
Like different other parts of the country, floodwater showed signs of retreating from the eastern and southern parts of the capital city. Life was returning to normality in those areas. But with the receding flood level, dirty and infected water again started to take its toll.
However, parts of Mugda and Kadamtala in the city are still submerged under water. But in spite of the falling water level in these areas, the woes of the residents have increased further. Earlier, when the flood level was at its peak, the residents would use boats to move from place to place. But now it has become riskier for them to walk in shallow dirty water or use rickshaw for moving from place to place. The offices and business houses are yet to start their business as usual.
As a result, the poorer people who live in shanties are still passing their days in great misery as most of them have no work and are passing their days half-fed or without food lying on raised bamboo platforms erected on dirty water. The stinking dirty water, on the other hand, is adding further to their miseries by playing host to deadly germs causing various kinds of infectious diseases.
The syndromes of retreating flood are already in plain sight in the different hospitals of the city. The challenge before all concerned now is about how to fight the waterborne diseases that every flood brings in its wake and rehabilitate the victims of the calamity. The waterborne diseases including diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery and typhoid, and respiratory diseases like pneumonia, etc., have already started to take their toll. The capital city itself has been witnessing an unprecedented rise in the number of patients afflicted with diarrhoea and cholera who are crowding the hospitals including the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital and other hospitals and clinic in the city. The ICDDR,B, for example, registered a record number of admission of cholera and diarrhoea-afflicted patients at the rate of about 1,000 patients a day. If this is the picture of the onslaught of the affliction around the capital city only, one can easily guess what a mind-boggling figure it would come to if calculated on a nation-wide scale. In fact, many such cases of afflictions may go unreported in the remoter parts of the country, as the victims of the diseases may not at all get the opportunity to be admitted to any hospital or clinic. That apart, there is the added problem of supplying adequate quantity of medicine, diet and financial assistance to these families faced with the perils of flood and its aftermath.
The health adviser, however, said that there was no cause for alarm notwithstanding the increasing number of patients down with diarrhoea and cholera crowding the hospitals and clinics in the city and elsewhere across the country. He dismissed the idea that the outbreak of the disease has taken epidemic proportions. He assured the nation that there was sufficient quantity of medicine including oral saline in stock.
The government has on more than one occasion assured the countrymen that despite its all-engulfing, the situation is well under its control. The army and other disaster fighting organs of the government are working round the clock to stand beside the flood-affected people. The Chief Adviser, the Army Chief and different high-ups of the incumbent interim government have pointed out the obvious that the flood should be kept free from the influence of politics. At the same time, they have also called upon all, regardless of party affiliation, to come in aid of the distressed humanity. The mainstream political parties, despite the internal shake-ups they are going through on the issue of reform, have not failed to demonstrate their willingness to help the people in distress. This has again proved that the nation, in spite of the political bickering, can get united whenever adversity strikes.
The worse, however, is yet to be over. The government machinery, though it is doing its best to tide over the devastating impact of the flood, alone is not adequate to fight the calamity. So far, participation of all the stakeholders including the different humanitarian bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private individuals is yet to be all-out. Until and unless that is ensured, it cannot be said that the actual fight to overcome recent calamity has started. For the biggest challenge before the nation now is to fight the diseases afflicting the flood-stricken people and their children, rehabilitate the families dislodged from their homes through rebuilding their houses, support them with the help of foods and animal fodder and assist them financially by way of easy credit so that they might return to their farmlands with fresh hopes for the future.
BANGLADESH at this moment is facing the worst visitation by flood in many years. The flood has engulfed 38 districts, or 33 according to another estimate. It has affected about 10 million people, destroyed fishery resources worth Tk 2.0 billion, damaged crops and vegetables on more than 7.6 million hectares of land, caused deaths to more than 250 people and afflicted thousands with waterborne diseases. During the last few days, hopes have been running high among the meteorologists that the worst nightmare may at last be over as the floodwaters have been showing signs of recession from most parts of the inundated areas.
While all concerned are preparing for the post-flood rehabilitation activities, reports of fresh flooding caused by torrential rains and flash floods are also coming in.
The situation has deteriorated in Gopalganj, Sylhet and Sunamganj as heavy downpour and rainwater coming down from the hills has inundated fresh areas. The Modhumati river in Gopalganj is flowing 17 cm above the danger mark. Strong current has caused flood protection embankment at Gobra to burst flooding vast swathe of land under the upazila. Torrential rains and flash flood have worsened the situation again in Sylhet and Sunamganj. Civil surgeon's office of Netrakona has informed that the area has come under fresh attack from diarrhoea where 107 mobile medical teams have started working in the flood affected areas.
Meanwhile, the waters of Jamuna and Brahmaputra have started to recede. Though the situation in Jamalpur has improved, the flood has left its devastating impact in its wake all over the district disrupting communications and damaging roads, houses and standing crops.
Manikganj, on the other hand, is facing severe crisis of drinking water. People are getting infected with waterborne diseases as the floodwater is subsiding. In Chandpur, the river Meghna is flowing 25 cm below the danger level, excepting the low-lying areas as well as the char lands. This district, too, is facing paucity of drinking water.
Countless houses have been washed away under four unions by the river Padma, which has burst its banks in Kushtia. Erosion of Padma has taken a serious turn as no step has so far been taken to repair the broken flood protection embankment.
However, reports say that the situation has been improving in Mymensingh.
The onrush of floodwaters around the capital city struck fear in the hearts of many city-dwellers that they might be bracing for an experience similar to the flood of 1988 or 1998. The nightmare, however, is yet to be over as heavy rains have again started falling frequently in the city as elsewhere in the county.
The situation till Sunday was that water from the inundated areas around Dhaka city was receding.
Like different other parts of the country, floodwater showed signs of retreating from the eastern and southern parts of the capital city. Life was returning to normality in those areas. But with the receding flood level, dirty and infected water again started to take its toll.
However, parts of Mugda and Kadamtala in the city are still submerged under water. But in spite of the falling water level in these areas, the woes of the residents have increased further. Earlier, when the flood level was at its peak, the residents would use boats to move from place to place. But now it has become riskier for them to walk in shallow dirty water or use rickshaw for moving from place to place. The offices and business houses are yet to start their business as usual.
As a result, the poorer people who live in shanties are still passing their days in great misery as most of them have no work and are passing their days half-fed or without food lying on raised bamboo platforms erected on dirty water. The stinking dirty water, on the other hand, is adding further to their miseries by playing host to deadly germs causing various kinds of infectious diseases.
The syndromes of retreating flood are already in plain sight in the different hospitals of the city. The challenge before all concerned now is about how to fight the waterborne diseases that every flood brings in its wake and rehabilitate the victims of the calamity. The waterborne diseases including diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery and typhoid, and respiratory diseases like pneumonia, etc., have already started to take their toll. The capital city itself has been witnessing an unprecedented rise in the number of patients afflicted with diarrhoea and cholera who are crowding the hospitals including the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital and other hospitals and clinic in the city. The ICDDR,B, for example, registered a record number of admission of cholera and diarrhoea-afflicted patients at the rate of about 1,000 patients a day. If this is the picture of the onslaught of the affliction around the capital city only, one can easily guess what a mind-boggling figure it would come to if calculated on a nation-wide scale. In fact, many such cases of afflictions may go unreported in the remoter parts of the country, as the victims of the diseases may not at all get the opportunity to be admitted to any hospital or clinic. That apart, there is the added problem of supplying adequate quantity of medicine, diet and financial assistance to these families faced with the perils of flood and its aftermath.
The health adviser, however, said that there was no cause for alarm notwithstanding the increasing number of patients down with diarrhoea and cholera crowding the hospitals and clinics in the city and elsewhere across the country. He dismissed the idea that the outbreak of the disease has taken epidemic proportions. He assured the nation that there was sufficient quantity of medicine including oral saline in stock.
The government has on more than one occasion assured the countrymen that despite its all-engulfing, the situation is well under its control. The army and other disaster fighting organs of the government are working round the clock to stand beside the flood-affected people. The Chief Adviser, the Army Chief and different high-ups of the incumbent interim government have pointed out the obvious that the flood should be kept free from the influence of politics. At the same time, they have also called upon all, regardless of party affiliation, to come in aid of the distressed humanity. The mainstream political parties, despite the internal shake-ups they are going through on the issue of reform, have not failed to demonstrate their willingness to help the people in distress. This has again proved that the nation, in spite of the political bickering, can get united whenever adversity strikes.
The worse, however, is yet to be over. The government machinery, though it is doing its best to tide over the devastating impact of the flood, alone is not adequate to fight the calamity. So far, participation of all the stakeholders including the different humanitarian bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private individuals is yet to be all-out. Until and unless that is ensured, it cannot be said that the actual fight to overcome recent calamity has started. For the biggest challenge before the nation now is to fight the diseases afflicting the flood-stricken people and their children, rehabilitate the families dislodged from their homes through rebuilding their houses, support them with the help of foods and animal fodder and assist them financially by way of easy credit so that they might return to their farmlands with fresh hopes for the future.