The dry season has already arrived in the country. We can hope that we shall get a respite from natural disasters like floods, tidal surges, river erosion, and the like, at least till the advent of the rains in June or July next year.
Most of our natural calamities happen during the wet season, whether it is the swelling of rivers due to rain on land, or the rushing of floodwater from the neighbouring country. As we have witnessed the miseries in the media, often we have come across similar responses from people, holding positions at organizations, say for instance, the water development board, representatives of the ministry of disaster management, responsible officials of local administration, and public representatives for that matter.
The problems of affected dikes and embankments have been identified, estimations have been made, and requests for funds have been forwarded to the concerned government body for required allocation. Such statements usually end on a note of hope that the moment the fund is released, the required work will be done to stop the recurrence of similar suffering and damage to life and property of people in future. Unfortunately, there are reports that in many affected areas, flood embankments and dikes have not been repaired or maintained for decades.
We are assured time and again that the authority is quite aware of such weaknesses and breaches in the dike or embankment system, and that in the near future or before the the next trail of calamities, things will be taken good care of.
If we take the case of a particular district, say Satkhira, we have more than 300km of dike, of which a substantial part we are told has been badly damaged.
This sort of work needs detailed survey, study on ground, and evaluation. Work involved in protecting life and property from common natural disasters in the country are expensive, time consuming, anf need a lot of coordination among a good number of agencies, perspective planning, allotment of considerable funds, and stringent monitoring mechanisms on ground to ensure proper implementation.
There has been a lot of talk on the increased frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide. From extensive study by experts on the subject, we already know by now that such phenomena are happening due to the effects of climate change. Countries like Bangladesh are going to suffer the most due to climate change, though we do not contribute much in triggering its devastating mechanisms.
It is claimed that Bangladesh has already become a model in disaster management in the region, reflected in holding some prestigious positions in international forums. This definitely speaks of the highest priority our government attaches to the issue, and substantial efforts put in to mitigate natural disasters.
It is due to the resilience of our people and tremendous support of the government that we are not only surviving, but thriving, as per some indices of development. We can possibly bask in the glory of such acclaim.
But when it comes to urgent response-generation in saving life and property, it does not really help us. We as a nation fail miserably when we see a whole village devoured by a gushing river within hours; school buildings, roads, markets, hospitals, homesteads, and cultivable land gone in matters of days. Well, one may say: What can we really do when struck by disasters like river erosion, for which there cannot be any forewarning?
Yes, we cannot predict and stop it, but what we possibly can do is stand beside the victims as such disasters take their toll on them, and help them in a meaningful way. But unfortunately, in the recent past, we have not seen any effort to rescue these people.
Why have we failed to muster some big water crafts for the salvage work? Isn’t the district or upazila administration empowered to gather such resources to be used in critical circumstances like this? We very sadly noticed that in spite of repeated spells of floods and inundation, hardly any mobilization of resources at the national level took place this year.
Bangladesh now chairs the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), and the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance of the 48 states that constitute the international body for climate-threatened nations. While so much is being achieved through our well-deserved positions of leadership at the global level, can we say that this has been adequately translated into action at the grassroots levels? This glowing image of Bangladesh needs to be translated into solid action, down to district and upazila levels and below.
Our experts get a lot of opportunities to study the impacts of climate change, such as the intrusion of saline water, the impact on agricultural produce, the rise of sea level causing inundation for prolonged period in some areas, and the increased frequency of floods, cyclones, and tidal surges. Our country, it seems, is going to become a good case study for scholars on such issues, providing empirical data in terms of the extent of damage, frequency and types of calamities, and loss of property and livelihood.
If we fail to act decisively now to chalk out long-term plans, enhance our ability to react in instant rescue and rehabilitation, and allocate adequate budgets, how will we reduce the suffering of the common masses? The bright sun is up and we must bake our clay right now.
Brig Gen Qazi Abidus Samad, ndc, psc (Retd) is a freelance contributor. He can be reached via email: showkat1959@gmail.com.