Natural Disaster in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a land of natural calamities. Flood, cyclone, drought, famine destroy life and property every year. People live here fighting against the frequent natural calamities.
In recent years our country has experienced a great number of natural calamities. Among these cyclones is the most devastating. It usually occurs in summer and generally originates from the Bay-of-Bengal.
Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms battered the Indian subcontinent in decades and smashed Bangladesh recently. The damage caused by Cyclone Fani, which hit Bangladesh in May, had been estimated to be around Tk. 536.61 crores.
Flood lasting a long time is a curse to the people of our country as it causes a huge loss of life and property. It brings catastrophic suffering to the people of the country. The crop fields, houses, roads, and streets go underwater. Crops and vegetables are damaged and millions of people become homeless. They face the scarcity of food, drinkable water, shelter and suffer much. Epidemic and famine break out to add to the misery and suffering of the flood-affected people. Various types of diseases like cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid break out.
Riverbank erosion, one of the major natural disasters in Bangladesh, causes untold miseries every year to thousands of people living along the banks of the rivers. Bangladesh is projected to lose around 2,270 hectares of land this year due to riverbank erosion. The erosion swallowed houses, schools, dams, roads, business establishments, and mosques. Riverbank erosion causes thousands of people shelterless. Victims have to live under the open sky as all of their belongings go into the womb of the deadly river.
Saline water intrusion is one of the biggest problems in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Saline water intrusion is mostly seasonal in Bangladesh; in winter months the saline front begins to penetrate inland, and the affected areas rise sharply from 10 percent in the monsoon to over 40 percent in the dry season. Coastal districts such as Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barguna, Pataskala, Barisal are the victims of salinity intrusion. Agricultural production, fisheries, livestock, and mangrove forests are affected by higher salinity in the dry season. It is observed that the dry flow trend has declined as a result of which sea flow (saline water) is traveling far inside the country resulting in contamination both in surface and groundwater.
Since people have no control over nature. But what is more important is it is possible to reduce the great loss to a substantial extent by taking precautionary measures. Using modern technology’s help the weather forecast, a prior warning can be given to the people who are likely to be affected by the cyclone the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Bangladesh are the worst sufferers of natural disasters.
A National Disaster Management Policy will be formulated to define the national perspective on disaster risk reduction and emergency management and to describe the strategic framework, and national principles of disaster management in Bangladesh. It will be strategic and will describe the broad national objectives, and strategies in disaster management.
Moreover, a quick relief, medical treatment, and essential medicines should be made available to the affected people just after terrible natural adversity. Along with the government, the people of the upper-class society should go among the affected community and help them as far as possible.
