DHAKA, 5 August 2004 — Thousands of flood victims in Bangladesh could die of disease unless urgent precautions are taken, the official news agency BSS yesterday quoted relief workers as saying. The death toll in the floods which hit on July 10 has risen to 628, with unconfirmed reports putting the figure at 800, BSS said. Relief workers from the World Health Organization and other bodies told the agency many more were at risk from water-borne and other diseases.
They predicted a “severe” health situation, “likely to claim the lives of thousands unless urgent precautions were taken,” BSS said. Relief workers have been scrambling to deliver medical supplies, food and water purification tablets to villagers marooned by the floods.
The government is working with donor agencies to distribute aid and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society as well as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have launched international appeals for more than $16 million. But many flood victims, especially those in remote rural areas, have still had little or no help and many are suffering from diarrhea and skin diseases. Thousands of others are enduring pitiful conditions in camps.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department in Dhaka has warned that floods may reappear in Bangladesh, in the form of ‘regular’ annual overflow of major rivers, in the second half of the month in some places along the basins of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, the Ganges and the Meghna.
However, if the current rate of decrease in river water levels along with low rainfall continues, the current flood situation in the country would reach normal levels from next week.
The UN said Bangladesh would take at least a year to recover from the flooding. UN acting resident coordinator Douglas Casson Coutts said it would take a minimum of 12 months for the country to return to its pre-flood situation. “We are still working out exact numbers but it is already clear that the country will need a lot of support to get back on its feet,” he said. Tens of millions of people now faced grave food insecurity, water-borne diseases, a badly mangled infrastructure and extremely poor prospects for the next rice crop, he said.
