WITH half a million people living in shelters and five million more having been directly affected, public suffering in districts under water is worsening as relief has not yet reached remote areas. The disaster management ministry says at least 74 upazilas in 11 districts have been severely affected, the authorities have opened 3,834 shelters and 27 people have so far died. People in hardest-hit Noakhali, Feni, Cumilla and Lakshmipur blamed incoordination between public agencies for their plight. Some have been living without access to safe water and food for 5鈥�6 days while some others living around main roads have received multiple relief supplies. The home affairs adviser, after visiting victims at the Noakhali Police Training Centre on August 27, acknowledged that the authorities were facing difficulties in accessing some areas, but there is no shortage of relief supplies. The army distributed 4,839 relief packages, 50,400 litres of fresh water, 500 mobiles and one lakh water purification tablets using helicopters in Sylhet, Chattogram and Feni. Compared with the scale of devastation and suffering, government relief efforts so far are scanty and visibly insignificant.
Contrary to the government response, public efforts to help flood victims this year is unprecedented. People from all walks of life have participated in student-led flood relief activities. Volunteers participating in the initiative have reported their struggle to reach remote areas as they lack institutional support to ensure equitable distribution of relief supplies. All major roads in the 12 affected districts have been under water at places. Fresh areas in Noakhali were, meanwhile, flooded on August 27 as 23 gates of the Musapur regulator in Companiganj collapsed under water pressure. The newly affected people needed to be urgently rescued and given relief supplies as their village went under neck-high water. About 300 families taking shelter on the flood protection embankment at Burichang in Cumilla were living in destitute condition without access to adequate food and water. Public suffering in the newly affected area is deplorable as there were warnings and the government should have been prepared to help the victims. Flood victims reported that their socio-economic loss from the flood could have been minimised if there had been a warning.
It is high time that the government took a comprehensive flood relief programme and ensure immediate and equitable relief supplies. In addition to the immediate humanitarian crisis, the government must announce a long-term relief programme with the provision of free seed, fertiliser and food so that people could focus on rebuilding.聽It should also consider strengthening institutional frameworks to ensure better agency coordination and invest in the latest weather forecast and early warning systems, especially for rapid-onset disasters such as flash floods. The government needs to do much more than celebrate the people鈥檚 unity as displayed in student-led relief efforts.
