Floods are nothing new to Bangladesh. But the fury, speed, and the magnitude with which flood has struck Sylhet, Sunamganj, and a good number of other districts this time is unprecedented. People haven’t seen anything like this in the past 40 years.
Water gushing out from the Meghalaya hills and Assam across the border has already taken a heavy toll. A large chunk of Sylhet is marooned with the rail and air connectivity snapped, and road link stands threatened.
Cherrapunji, across the border, has been reported to have received record rainfall in the last 122 years. There is no electricity and mobile network in the whole area. All sort of communication being cut off has rendered a huge portion of the population hapless.
It is clear that we are not prepared to tackle a deluge of such huge magnitude rendering millions homeless within such a short time. People are seen desperately leaving for safety. Boats are in short supply, and people are wading through neck deep water and trying to grab whatever mode they can to get away to some dry place for a shelter.
People have taken shelter in schools, madrasas, government offices, shopping places -- wherever they could. There is a report that a family failed to rent a boat even for Tk40,000 in order to shift a woman in the family away to the district town only 10 kilometres away.
Due to the sudden onrush of water, a vast population, while moving out, had not been able to save any belongings -- be it valuables or cattle. Millions still remain stuck, waiting to be rescued.
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We boast a lot of Bangladesh becoming a model in disaster management. Unfortunately, floods being the most common and recurring type of disaster, we seem to be quite ill-prepared. The very first step in such a disaster would demand an evacuation plan for the inhabitants.
At the city corporation, municipality, ward, upazila, and union levels, had we had proper statistics about resources like boats of various kinds, the authorities would have been able to muster those in required numbers to utilize for shifting people to safety. But, unfortunately, these are not properly maintained. Even if there is some data, these are never updated or revised. As a consequence, we hear on the third day of getting marooned that the upazila administration is being ordered to arrange water crafts, which they can hardly do now.
It is heartening that, after many years, we find the army being deployed to help in rescue work. We recall the flood in 1988, where we had seen the army in rescue and flood relief operations for a prolonged period. We have also seen civil administration work hand in hand. Military and members of civil administration weeding through water was a common scene in providing succour to the destitute.
Priorities right now will be evacuation, shelter, food, drinking water, sanitation, health, and hygiene. We are confident that the army will do its best. There is a great deal of coordination with the administration required for this. We are aware that the local administration themselves in all flood affected areas have been badly hit. It will be a big challenge for them to get organized first and then come forward to help others. People would trust the army, as they always did during such emergencies. Relief items and funds should be pouring in as we had witnessed during a massive operation in the aftermath of cyclone Sidr in 2007.
Many would try to reach out to the victims, which is difficult at the moment because of the serious disruption of communication. It is time we stand beside our countrymen; let’s join hands and help people with whatever we can, in cash and kind. We need to bow down in humility to the Almighty so that He helps us in getting through this difficult time. We also need to deeply reflect that whatever development we talk about, we remain vulnerable and fragile at the mercy of nature.
We may talk about climate change, global warming, and our reluctance in sustained efforts to remedy those. Our failure to take care of the ecosystem, maintain flood plains, navigability of rivers, and prepare dykes, embankments, and other protective measures do definitely contribute to a great extent in this regard. These are issues that need long-term deliberations and well-thought-out projects with very elaborate planning, huge resources, and meticulous implementation of plans.
We can concentrate later on the whole gamut of issues and carry out a review at appropriate levels to find out where we actually stand when we talk about our preparedness for disasters. As of now, we must prioritize and focus on the emergency beyond anything else.
If we compare our army in 1988 and now, it has grown much larger in size. It definitely has seen growth both in terms of quality and quantity. We earnestly hope they can render much needed support to the millions marooned. But local support and administration will remain vital in processing, prioritizing, and delivering services to the needy. Let’s hope they can do it better in harmony.
Brig Gen Qazi Abidus Samad, ndc, psc (Retd) is a freelance contributor. Email: showkat1959@gmail.com.