Nation haunted by disaster

Press, 10 July 1985, Page 17

Nation haunted by disaster

From

RICHARD EHRLICH

in Dhaka

Why, of all countries in the world, is it Bangladesh that seems to be the most haunted by disaster? Typhoons, floods, food scarcity, and disease all strike with almost annual regularity. The answer is that although the 100 million Bangladeshis have made some major gains as a nation, they remain trapped on one of the world’s worst pieces of real estate.

Viewed from a helicopter, Bangladesh appears as gorgeously green flatlands, slashed by hundreds of rivers which flow south from the glacier-covered Himalaya mountains of India and Tibet.

Two mighty river systems, the Ganges and Brahmaputra, dump their swirling muddy waters into Bangladesh. As a result, the land is treacherously fragmented into

watery deltas as the rivers meander towards the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is so waterlogged, flat and low, that if the Bay of Bengal rose 10 feet — it would submerge three-fourths of the nation and drown just about everyone. Aid workers estimate that 90 per cent of the 10,000 killed in the May 24 cyclone were children unable to swim through the tidal wave.

Every year, 50 to 200 inches of monsoon rains cause the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers to flood from the north, killing hundreds of villagers and livestock, and destroying crops. This in turn sets off widespread

malnutrition which kills more people and also permanently retards children’s brains, health officials say. Those who survive these horrors suffer from übiquitous swamplands which breed deadly malaria-carry-ing mosquitos. They also die from nature’s other water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea, and hepatitis. Because Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest nations, health care is sparse or in many areas nonexixtent. Even in the best of times, the country is still burdened by another cruelty of nature: overpopulation. Despite ambitious — and often dangerously experimental — contraceptive programmes, the birthrate continues to be unacceptably high. It currently runs at about 2.32 births a year per 100 population. The Government predicts the nation’s population will soar from the present 100 million to 140 million by the year 2000. They will be forced to pack themselves on to only 55,578 square miles of watery territory. The density of people means most Bangladeshis are landless, often unemployed, and forced to live in crude mud and thatch huts, without electricity or running water. Dhaka, the capital, swarms with four million residents who hang from the doors of buses, cram into tiny dingy rooms, and are obsessed with making enough money in an environment where human labour is cheap and easily replaceable. Ironically, Bangladeshis remain warm-hearted, extroverted, and imaginative people. But many elders fear their countrymen are losing their generosity and good humour because of inflation and scarcities. The struggle turns into a nightmare for those who cannot compete. Whenever a car stops at a

street corner, packs of deformed, ragged beggars gather around and moan for alms. The beggars are almost everywhere, both in the countryside and in urban centres. Many are without arms or legs. Some are skeletalfaced or partially blind. Others have horribly twisted limbs or spines. Pleading women thrust their filthy, fly-covered babies at anyone who looks as if they might eventually part with a grey aluminium coin. Despite all these burdens, many in the Government are trying to bring progress and prosperity. The self-appointed “Chief Martial Law Administrator and President,” Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammed Ershad, seized power in a 1982 bloodless coup which toppled a civilian government. Ershad insists that in a disaster area, the military is the only disciplined, united, and equipped organisation to bring relief to victims. And since Bangladesh is a perpetual disaster, Ershad felt he had reason to act. Not everyone agrees with Ershad’s martial law regime. While the leaders and their opponents quarrel about the concepts of

democracy and martial law, nature steadily continues to erode life for the masses. The erosion is often literal; valuable, fertile farmland along rivers is frequently swept away during annual monsoon flooding. Today, Bangladesh produces hardly any industrial items, forcing the Government to spend scarce foreign currency of ever-increasing imports. Still, some western analysts and optimistic Government officials say the quality of life is improving, albeit slowly. They point to the nation’s farmlands which are continually rejuvenated by silt deposits. “Wherever you plant a seed it will grow,” one farmer boasts. Though many people go hungry, food distribution has improved in recent years, Western analysts believe. Optimists also point to United Nations statistics showing an increased life expectancy which now predicts the average Bangladeshi will live more than 55 years. But others are not so sure. They know the cycles of nature’s grim indifference will always haunt the people of Bangladesh. Copyright — London Observer Service.