Once again, water levels of some of the mightiest rivers in the country have crossed or are on the verge of crossing their danger marks. The Brahmaputra has already flooded its surrounding areas, with the Teesta and the Ghaghot flowing just shy of their danger marks.
This exponential rise inevitably leads to the inundation of nearby locales, which in turn leads to the loss of life, property, and livelihoods of all who live there. Despite this being a wholly predictable natural calamity -- Bangladesh is naturally a flood-prone nation -- we still fail to see any concrete measures being taken to manage this crisis.
If full prevention cannot be attained right now, then at the very least authorities should be focusing on minimizing the damage caused by annual flooding to the best of their abilities.
In the short term, this would mean organizing relief drives to aid all individuals and communities that have been affected and displaced; they must also be given sufficient support to help them get back on their feet once floodwaters recede. However, this cannot be our only course of action. In the long term, we must work towards building resilience and preventing future loss by investing in the necessary research, technology, and infrastructure.
Annual floods will not be going away anytime soon; if anything, climate change will only make matters worse in upcoming years. While we must work to mitigate the direst consequences right now, a plan must also be put in place to ensure we can avoid such crises in the future.
