Bangladesh is a low-lying South Asian country which is very much prone to the natural disasters, especially flood. In fact, the life of the people of Bangladesh is made of tragedy. Very often, nature behaves in a very rude way with us. Flood is such a natural calamity in Bangladesh which is recurring almost every year.
There are so many reasonable reasons behind the cause of floods in this country. About seventy percent of its land area is less than one meter above sea level. Excessive rainfall due to monsoon climate is an important reason of floods in the country. There are hundreds of rivers in this country. The silting of these rivers and erosion of soil also cause flood here. Heavy silting makes rivers fail to maintain the normal flow of water. Above all during the spring, melting snow from the Himalayas accelerate the possibilities of flood.
The flood in 1988: The worst flood in Bangladesh occurred throughout August and September in 1988. The flood water inundates about 75% of the total land. It lasted about a month. Over 1300 people were killed in the flood. About 25 million people were made homeless. There was serious shortage of water and food. Fatal diseases like bronchitis, cholera, diarrhea were broken out very soon. About 2 millions tonnes of rice were destroyed totally. A half million cattle and poultry were lost. Overall the flood costs the country almost 1 billion US dollars. To speak the truth, the flood had broken the weak economic structure of the country.
The floods in 1998: The devastating flood occurred between July-September in 1998. About 1000 people were dead and 30 million people lost their shelter in the flood. Over two-thirds of the total land area was covered by water and the capital city Dhaka was 2 meter under water. About 6,68,529 hectors cultivated land were destroyed with almost ripe crops. About 400 clothing factories were forced to close. The communication systems were seriously disrupted which made the rescue operation very difficult.
The flood in 2004: The flood in 2004 was also left havoc in its wake. In this most recent flood, 41 out of 64 districts of the country and about 25 millions people were affected. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh was swimming in sewage at that time. More than half of the metropolitan city was submerged under water. Flood causes a huge loss in our country every year. It weakens the backbone of the economy of our country. Though it is not possible to stop this natural disaster entirely,3 some precautionary steps can minimize the losses of life and property. Government should initiate newer and long-term preventive measures to face this challenge. Public awareness is also an essential regarding this.
