DHAKA, 30 July 2004 — An international aid organization warned yesterday of a looming humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh if flooding that has already killed more than 450 people and left millions homeless is aggravated by further monsoon rains. “It’s quite possible there will be more flooding like this because we are only at the beginning of the monsoon season and still have another two months to go,” Tony Maryon, head of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, told AFP.
“Then you would be looking at mass evacuation of areas and a big humanitarian crisis.”
Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, meanwhile, told newsmen in Dhaka, Delhi had failed to forewarn Dhaka about heavy rains and the situation in the Indian region as per a bilateral agreement thus taking the government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia unawares about the onrush of floodwaters from the upstream. He said there was no scientific mechanism to hold floodwaters in check but had India informed Bangladesh about heavy rainfall in Assam, Bihar and other places as per the agreement between the two countries, Bangladesh could have made better preparations.
Yusuf said if the flood continues for another three weeks, the situation would aggravate and in that case it would not be possible for the government to tackle the situation with internal resources alone.
Experts have warned that even without the rain forecast for coming days the flooding will continue for at least two or three more weeks.
The floodwaters, which at one point submerged two-thirds of Bangladesh, were yesterday affecting about half the country, with the death toll now at 452, the official news agency BSS said.
An international appeal for $3.2 million launched Tuesday by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society had raised more than half its target in just two days, Maryon said.
“We are about to start distributing 700 tons of food that has come from the World Food Program and with the money raised by our appeal we should be able to follow up with more relief wherever it is most needed within about 10 days,” he added.
The World Food Program, which is distributing rice and water purification tablets to flood victims in the north and center of the country, has also warned that Bangladesh “could face a major humanitarian crisis” over coming days.
The government and international relief organizations said Wednesday that millions across the country were without adequate supplies of food and fresh water.
In Dhaka, where tens of thousands of flood victims were growing increasingly desperate for food and clean water, BSS said new areas had been inundated, leaving nearly two-thirds of the city under water.
The water has been contaminated by the collapse of the sewer system, putting public health at risk and increasing pressure on hospitals, the agency added.
Officials told AFP the waters were highly contaminated because in order to limit the flood water entering Dhaka, some water gates had been closed, stopping sewage flowing out of the city.
Water board workers in Dhaka were distributing supplies of drinking water to flood hit people in Dhaka, BSS said yesterday. But many flood victims massing at relief centers across the city told AFP they had not yet received any. “We came to this shelter but we have not received anything,” Rashid Bepair, 65, told AFP.
Another man, Sanwar Ali, 38, said most people were getting by on water taken from open tanks at mosques normally used by worshippers to wash before prayers.
Rivers close to Dhaka continued to flow far above danger levels and troops were asked to repair breaches to the earth embankments built alongside them.
The flooding is the heaviest since 1998 when flood waters left more than 700 people dead and 21 million homeless. The government has said it welcomed international aid and expected to make an appeal for assistance with post-flood rehabilitation.
