MANY people left stranded in Feni and Noakhali for more than a fortnight in the flooding of Bangladesh鈥檚 east, north-east and south-east still waiting for relief supplies or not getting supplies enough for their sustenance is a cause of concern. People marooned in remote areas are reported to be desperately waiting for relief supplies and medical support amidst a complete breakdown of the communications network. As floodwater has receded, or still receding, from many areas, diseases have broken out, making survival for the affected difficult, especially when medical and relief supplies are still inadequate. The daily flood situation report says that the number of families left stranded in 11 districts that went under water was more than half a million. And 284,000 of the affected people were still living in 3,612 flood shelters in the districts. Relief operations, as people affected by the flood say, appear to have been managed mainly by the army and non-governmental and private initiatives and the government appears to be faltering in all this in the absence of local government representatives. The interim government in the third week of August removed representatives of almost all local government institutions and appointed administrators, but the arrangement appears hardly working in relief operations.
The daily relief supplies report released by the disaster management and relief ministry on September 3 shows that it has so far distributed Tk 45.2 million in cash aid. The government has so far distributed 20,650 tonnes of rice, 15,000 packets of dry food and Tk 7 million equally halved for food for the infants and fodder. The report released on August 29 also showed that the same amount of money had been distributed till then in cash aid. The government, as the report of August 29 says, had till then distributed 20,650 tonnes of rice, 15,000 packets of dry food and Tk 7 million equally halved for food for the infants and fodder. If the figures that the government furnishes are true, no change in the figures suggests that the government has stopped supplying relief for the flood victims. The figures have, in fact, remained unchanged since August 28. People still wait for relief and medical supplies in remote areas as private relief ventures may not have reached such places where the flooding situation warrants heavy equipment that only the government can arrange. This is why the volume of relief supply appears inadequate in view of the number of people having been affected. The disaster management and relief adviser to the interim government at a briefing on September 3 said that it was the army that carries out relief operations in remote areas, noting that there had been some mismanagement though. What appears problematic in all this is, rather, incoordination in relief supplies, between the agencies and a visible lack of efforts on part of public agencies.
The government must, therefore, step up its relief efforts and activate its agencies responsible for the task.
