Over the decades, Bangladesh has failed miserably to prevent massive losses caused by floods during the monsoon season every year, let alone find options to make the best use of this common natural phenomenon. The government policy-makers, as well as field-level officials concerned, are reluctant to find effective strategies to make the flood protection embankments sustainable and conduct dredging regularly to ease the severity of floods.
Conspiracy theorists say successive governments have focused more on budget allocation and foreign aid for relief and rehabilitation because it helps a vicious quarter make some extra income every year by stealing a lion's share of the aid of the poor “mango people”.
But why? Why be negligent to the lives and livelihoods of the riverside people only because they are not educated enough and poor? Why can't our policy-makers find a sustainable solution and take meaningful steps to save the paddy fields and prevent price hikes?
Some government departments saying “the silt that is carried by floodwater and stays on cropland is very fertile for paddy and vegetable production” is nothing but “showing” sympathy -- not false information though -- against a massive loss.
After all the devastation is done, the most common excuse the inefficient officials would present -- it was an early flood or the other country in the upstream was not friendly -- is nothing but an example of how shameful and arrogant these profit-mongers are. Then they focus on how to divide the aid among the organizers first and then stage a performative drama as a token of accountability that they have done their job successfully, eying more income in the following year.
Take the example of 2022: The weather observers warned of a massive flood but maintained low publicity; then the agriculture authorities were reluctant to warn the farmers; the same was the role of the water resources and disaster management authorities. Apparently, everybody was bracing for disaster -- at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Maybe, behind the scene, the food authorities were calculating the minimum aid needed to be distributed as part of constitutional obligations -- thanks to the policy-makers who incorporated issues like “social safety nets”. And the rural people are naturally expected to be grateful for such actions.
So the authorities kept mum when the floodwater entered the rural localities and submerged the croplands, but could not remain so when the water irritated the urban class by hampering their gentlemanly lifestyle. Water was everywhere -- from the streets to the parking lots and even inside the bedrooms. Floodwater affected their electricity, gas, and drinking water supplies. It's tragic how they had to subsist like that for so long.
All of it happened within several weeks after the floodwater entered the country. But no lessons were learned. So when the second spell of the flood came, it appeared like a ghost, as nobody was prepared for it. Why? Those who are better informed know exactly why, they just choose to stay quiet.
The media was writing stories and publishing photos of the sorry state on the ground every day but they did not give them prominence because such floods happen every year and because the authorities weren't concerned about the situation and didn't provide accurate data on the affected areas, croplands, and people. And when they started giving the information, it was full of flaws -- reportedly because of the remoteness of the areas that went under the floodwater, but actually because they had the intention to trivialize the whole thing until the water moved away.
However, some satellite photos and accurate information on the affected areas, crop loss, and affected population on Twitter by a United Nations agency forced the authorities to give more accurate data within a couple of days, because the modern world knows that Bangladesh too has access to such technologies.
The next steps were very common and happened quickly: Sending out volunteers from various agencies with food aid and cash, inspecting affected embankments to prepare a new proposal to repair them, writing project proposals for the next year's dredging plans, and presenting exaggerated information on the losses -- to get close to the universally-accepted UN data, seeking foreign funds, and thus, puncturing the country's reputation as a growing economy with significant digital literacy.
Unfortunately, these things are evident in a country where sensitive departments are swarmed with too many inefficient and careless people who have no or minimum accountability.
When almost a year has passed since people faced massive losses due to the devastating flood, for which they can't be blamed (and they couldn't cover up the losses yet), there have been no or insignificant preparations to make the embankments stronger, conduct proper dredging, dig ponds and canals to store the floodwater, and the less said the better about helping the poor people with “smart” ideas to save their life, houses, and croplands at the time of the looming disaster.
And this is how the vicious cycle of plundering public money and cheating on the “mango people” continues for ages.
Probir Kumar Sarker is a journalist and researcher.
