BANGLADESH: Floods Ease But ‘Real Disaster’ Still Looming

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Tabibul Islam

DHAKA, Aug 2 2004 (IPS) - Although water levels in some of Bangladesh’s overflowing rivers started dropping several days ago after sweeping away homes, crops, roads, bridges and schools, relief agencies warn the flood situation in most of the country’s affected districts is still alarming with many Bangladeshis in dire need of emergency aid.

The national Flood Warning and Monitoring Centre said over the weekend that the three major rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, and their tributaries were running below the red mark at most monitoring stations across the rain- soaked country. Officials said the drop in the water level would continue.

But the receding flood waters uncovered a landscape of widespread devastation dotted by shattered homes, washed-out farmlands, broken roads and disrupted rail links.

South Asia is seeing one of its worst floods in 15 years and the latest deaths took the toll in this year’s floods to more than 1,350 across the region, including about 620 in Bangladesh and the rest in the Indian states of Assam and Bihar.

”The economic damages (in Bangladesh) have been severe, as significant numbers of livestock have perished in the floodwaters, while more than 800,000 hectares of agricultural land, planted with the current ‘aman’ rice crop, are either destroyed or partially damaged,” said a report by the United Nations Disaster Management Team.

The team is currently in the capital assessing the impact of the floods and the damage caused by the torrential rains that have made an estimated 25 million Bangladeshis homeless.

With more than half the country under flood the people of Bangladesh are also battling against disease and malnutrition.

”As the floodwaters are unlikely to recede, most of this season’s crop will be lost, and there is neither enough time nor resources to replant,” said the U.N. report.

Since Jul. 10, floodwaters have inundated 40 of the country’s 64 districts – including two-thirds of the capital. The government estimates that damage to property and infrastructure is at 6.6 billion U.S. dollars.

The ability of the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide effective help is also hampered as road communications have been cut off in many districts, leaving many villages accessible only by boat or by air transport.

In the capital, the situation is no better.

”Only boats and skilful waders now travel the streets and lanes in Dhaka,” said Peter Thorpe, head of information services at the Centre for Health and Population Research – Bangladesh.

”The poorest lost their shanties and moved to ‘shelters’ set up in community centres, schools, the cricket stadium and Dhaka City Corporation Transportation yard,” Thorpe told IPS.

The health NGO also runs a hospital in Dhaka and Thorpe said the cholera treatment wards are now handling over 500 cases of diarrhoea daily.

Nearly 7,000 cases of water-borne diseases had been reported since Friday alone, reported the official ‘BSS’ news agency.

”The humanitarian situation is deteriorating rapidly and floods are the perfect breeding ground for water-borne diseases and poisonous snakes,” said Alison Fernandes, a South Asia desk officer for the British relief agency Tearfund.

”We are already seeing an alarming increase in the number of people suffering from snakebites, dysentery, diarrhoea and cholera, but the impassibility of roads severely hampers attempts by aid agencies to gain access to those needing assistance,” she told IPS.

Fernandes warned that it was still early in the monsoon and things in Bangladesh could get much worse before they got any better.

The extensive flooding is due to a variety of contributing factors.

In addition to heavy and early monsoon rains in Bangladesh, there has been the snowmelt and rain run-off from the Himalayas and lesser ranges.

Also monsoon rain in neighbouring countries, like Bhutan, Nepal and India, have swollen the massive Brahmaputra and Ganges river systems. Heavy localised rains have added to the cumulative effect, causing dramatic surface flooding.

Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world. The location renders the country extremely vulnerable to the impact of floods, cyclones, tidal surges, tornados, and earthquakes.

With around 80 percent of its 142 million people living in rural areas, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries. It is also one of the poorest and as such, the severity of the impact of natural disasters is immense and often stretches the capacity of local agencies.

Barbu Alam, a researcher at the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, argued that Bangladesh’s weak economy combined with low levels of technology and infrastructure have made matters worse.

Alam, told IPS, that funds were badly needed for a flood warning system.

”With more money, Bangladesh could install early-warning systems that alert people to flooding four or five days in advance, instead of the current four or five hours,” he said.

The flood warning system was also brought up by Salvano Briceno, the director of the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Writing from Geneva for alertnet.org – a portal for humanitarian workers – Briceno said the flood disaster in Bangladesh could have been mitigated if communities had been better prepared and had access to information on where floods were going to hit and when.

”In the case of Bangladesh, flood prevention is not primarily a technical issue. Simply reinforcing dikes, embankments and buildings would not have been enough to cope with the massive rainfall,” he pointed out.

Added Briceno: ”The best prevention – and this holds true for other flood-hit developing countries – involves educating people and communicating on time. In Bangladesh, many still have no access to flood information.”