WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

This year the flood is turning to be fatal like 1998. The lower parts of Dhaka City is submerged in floodwater. The streets of the commercial area Motijheel is covered with 6" - 1 feet of water. Although I am blessed not being effected with Flood water, not in home as well as in workplace, I am really numb with the plight of those effected. I did not expect that the flood will be this much devastating. The main problems of this type of flood is that it destroys the water and sewerage system. The water supplies gets contaminated with swears making it impossible for the effected people to get fresh water, for drinking or cleaning. Diseases soon follow making things worse. If the kitchens get inundated, there goes your lunches and dinners. You can hardly find any restaurant open in the effected locality. Its really a messy situation. When the water rises to 3 or 4 feets high, there is a greater risk of electrocution and there goes the electricity of the whole community.


Rich and poor alike are effected and they need food and water purifiers and some shelters. The day-laborers are the worst victims who seldom has proper housing facilities. Most of the flood shelters are running without any help or monitoring from the government. So far people the situation has not gone out of hand of the local people. But I wonder for how long they can sustain without proper and planned action from the government. There is an influx of flood effected destitutes across all dry parts of the city. I have personally helped a couple of them, but really that will not save them from misery. In fact collective efforts of government and NGOs as well as help from the non-effected are needed to establish more shelters equipped with food, medicine, cloth and other survival gears. Rehabilitation and repairing of the infrastructure damages would be another huge task when the water subsides.

The eastern part of the capital is the worst effected as it does not have any flood protection embankment. Will the government answer why there are housing projects going on in these lower parts since decades, without first having the embankments?

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