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17 July 2002 By Patrick Fuller in Delhi As thousands of people leave their villages for refuge on higher ground, the threat of serious flooding continues to hang over many areas of Bangladesh. An estimated 50 people have died since the flooding began two weeks ago. On Saturday more than 200 villages were inundated when an embankment was breached on the Jamuna river in the district of Sirajganj, 65 miles north east of the capital, Dhaka. The Bangladesh Red Crescent is maintaining close contact with its branches in the flood affected districts and together with the International Federation, is preparing contingency plans should the situation worsen dramatically. Relief items, together with six metric tons of food, have already been dispatched from the headquarters of the Red Crescent in Dhaka and will be distributed in the coming days to the most badly affected families across nine districts. The recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Red Crescent, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Bangladesh government, has given a major boost to the Red Crescent. "This has been a real breakthrough," explains Tony Maryon, Federation head of delegation in Dhaka. "We can now get access to 1,000 tons of rice or grain within 48 hours from government stocks across the country. Having this kind of immediate access to food supplies will speed up our response time dramatically." Even though hundreds of thousands of people are thought to be affected by floods, so far the humanitarian response has come primarily from the local population and the Bangladeshi authorities. But, according to the Bangladesh Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), all major rivers including the Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Padma, Meghna, Surma and Mohananda continue to register further rises although they are below danger level. "The situation could change very quickly but the next eight weeks will be critical. So far we have seen a steady deterioration which is partly due to widespread inundation of low lying areas caused by incessant rains. Now we are faced with the huge volume of water coming down the river system from north eastern India," explains Tony Maryon. Reliable information on actual damages caused by monsoon flooding so far has been difficult to determine due to the fluctuations in water levels in different parts of the country. But according to local media there has been widespread damage to road communications, crops and livestock. Related Links: Bangladesh Appeal More on: Bangladesh |
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