BD Flood

[Tigers_eye]

I know this is a regular occurance but I think we need to discuss this issue in more detailed.

Why is it happening?

How can we minimize the affects?

What steps need to be taken by the CTG now and the Govt that would be coming in the near future?

Again "chok bheshey jai joley" when watching the people of my land suffer.

[Puck]

Is there a collection going on within the forum?

[Ahmed_B]

Climate of the whole world looks very much in a disarray. That is affecting BD's regular seasons also. Too much rain, prolonged summer and so many other disasters happening too often these days.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Puck
Is there a collection going on within the forum?

Collection would not put a dent to the problem.

Local mosque may be a better assistance for that.

we need permanent solutions.

Such as: construct a dam within our borders opposite to farakka. Similar notion on other incoming rivers would certainly get the attention of your brothers.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
Collection would not put a dent to the problem.

Local mosque may be a better assistance for that.

we need permanent solutions.

Such as: construct a dam within our borders opposite to farakka. Similar notion on other incoming rivers would certainly get the attention of your brothers.

if a dam was constructed surely that would create a lake of sorts and india would insist on water being allowed to flow. i don't think a dam would be the correct response to the sleeping superpower india. perhaps what is needed are dry canals and new channels or dredging of existing riverbeds to allow for the water to flow away without much disruption.

[gatekeeper]

Certain amount of flooding is a given in BD given its topographical structure and we actually need it for agricultural purposes. That said, a lot of the recent floods, especially in Dhaka and other big cities is due to dissapearance of the lowlands and marshlands in the name of 'development'.

[Fazal]

Originally Posted by Puck
Is there a collection going on within the forum?

I think we should concentrate on both ..(short term and long term) .which are not mututal exclusive....

In short term, help any way we can to reduce some pain to the victims (as yuo are suggesting)

And long term come up with more permanent solution to reduce the effect of flood and the suffering it causes to its victim.

There for please inform us with any useful information if any one have that Puck request. Even that help one person'r one day's suffering, its not wastage.

[shaad]

Originally Posted by gatekeeper
Certain amount of flooding is a given in BD given its topographical structure and we actually need it for agricultural purposes. That said, a lot of the recent floods, especially in Dhaka and other big cities is due to dissapearance of the lowlands and marshlands in the name of 'development'.

gatekeeper is quite correct. While I make no claims to be an expert, many of the lowands and marshes that actually acted as "sinks" or "reservoirs" for extra water have been filled up to create "plots" for house building. One needs only to compare old maps/pictures of Dhaka (e.g. Gulshan, Shyamoli, etc.) to see this. Proper planning by Rajuk here could definitely help.

Another aspect affecting flooding is deforestation at the base of the Himalayas; without appropriate ground cover and root systems, there's nothing to really "trap" the water and prevent it from flowing down to us. There's not much we can do about it.

Finally, part of this flooding is, I suspect, due to the alluvial deposits building up in the river. This can be solved by dredging. We had some functional dredgers left after 1971; but I don't believe they have been used extensively. I also don't know if they are presently in good shape.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by shaad

Another aspect affecting flooding is deforestation at the base of the Himalayas; without appropriate ground cover and root systems, there's nothing to really "trap" the water and prevent it from flowing down to us. There's not much we can do about it.
.

this is actually the main cause of flooding. the government needs to raise awareness of this deforrestation under the name of global warming. since global warming is taken so seriously in the west now, the highlighting of this issue would make the west take some action against the deforrestation.

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by shaad
...
Finally, part of this flooding is, I suspect, due to the alluvial deposits building up in the river. This can be solved by dredging. We had some functional dredgers left after 1971; but I don't believe they have been used extensively. I also don't know if they are presently in good shape.

In 1988, I knew Bd had two working dredgers for the entire country. One was at Mongla and one was at Aricha. I am not sure if those were the ones from 1971 or not. Whatever the conditions of those dredgers are/were, most certainly those machines are out of date and must have collected enough rust (not functioning). But a country like ours should have several working dredgers if we want to elevate the sufferings of our people. I am not sure why the CTG haven't taken any steps to ensure this. Saving lives are more important. 8 has already drowned six of the are children (Ntv).

Picture ID for voting purposes or saving cattles and grains. which one was more important for the CTG when taking up power? I know there is no quick fix but one must take the necessary steps just so that with in few years this problem can be addressed fully.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
In 1988, I knew Bd had two working dredgers for the entire country. One was at Mongla and one was at Aricha. I am not sure if those were the ones from 1971 or not. Whatever the conditions of those dredgers are/were, most certainly those machines are out of date and must have collected enough rust (not functioning). But a country like ours should have several working dredgers if we want to elevate the sufferings of our people. I am not sure why the CTG haven't taken any steps to ensure this. Saving lives are more important. 8 has already drowned six of the are children (Ntv).

Picture ID for voting purposes or saving cattles and grains. which one was more important for the CTG when taking up power? I know there is no quick fix but one must take the necessary steps just so that with in few years this problem can be addressed fully.

how much would these dredges cost.. can the government afford to buy them?

[ammark]

from BBC earlier on this morning... apparently this years floods are the worst in 3 decades. Mind you its part of the same flooding causing problems in Bihar, Assam and West Bengal too

[Rubu]

According to prothom alo report, my home town sirajganj is under water now. After experiencing '88's flood, I only wonder how bad the situation could be this time since it is considered the worst so far

[Sovik]

Originally Posted by Rubu
According to prothom alo report, my home town sirajganj is under water now. After experiencing '88's flood, I only wonder how bad the situation could be this time since it is considered the worst so far

i am going home on 6th of august. heard half of the town has been affected by the flood

[Tigers_eye]

Originally Posted by Puck
how much would these dredges cost.. can the government afford to buy them?

They should be able to. Money is no issue. Red tape and where to employ is the real question. The donar's are there. We need a minimum of 20.

Originally Posted by ammark
from BBC earlier on this morning... apparently this years floods are the worst in 3 decades. Mind you its part of the same flooding causing problems in Bihar, Assam and West Bengal too

I thought the "dhol" from the mountains reaches BD in late august and early september. The July floods are usually caused by the local mansoon rain. If BBC is correct then we are in deep trouble this year. i was there in 88 season. Since I was a good swimmer I was selected (among all volunteers) to do relief work around kaliakor (tangail) area. I saw the devastation 1st hand. Hope and pray the level of severity doesn't reach to that level.

++++

The actual work should have begun in winter when the rivers were all dried up. They could use trucks and other digging machinaries to deepen the filled up rivers. We as a nation always react. Never be proactive. The Army can be used and get paid in rebuilding the nations waterways.

[Sovik]

this is what sirajganj look like now

[ammark]

ReliefWeb has a very good map page, showing regular updated maps of the affected areas

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/...rm&rc=3&cc=bgd

[Dhurr]

Originally Posted by shaad
gatekeeper is quite correct. While I make no claims to be an expert, many of the lowands and marshes that actually acted as "sinks" or "reservoirs" for extra water have been filled up to create "plots" for house building. One needs only to compare old maps/pictures of Dhaka (e.g. Gulshan, Shyamoli, etc.) to see this. Proper planning by Rajuk here could definitely help.

Another aspect affecting flooding is deforestation at the base of the Himalayas; without appropriate ground cover and root systems, there's nothing to really "trap" the water and prevent it from flowing down to us. There's not much we can do about it.

Finally, part of this flooding is, I suspect, due to the alluvial deposits building up in the river. This can be solved by dredging. We had some functional dredgers left after 1971; but I don't believe they have been used extensively. I also don't know if they are presently in good shape.

I agree with both of you. The last time I heard, those dredgers were in pretty bad shape/almost non-functional. I am no expert in the field, so may be somebody else can give more input.

[Puck]

some pictures

[nobody]

http://www.ffwc.gov.bd/ check this for almost real time update of flood sitution

[Kabir]

Originally Posted by Puck
how much would these dredges cost.. can the government afford to buy them?

The question isn't whether government can buy it or not, or the costs involved with it. If the government had money to buy 2 dredgers back in 1971, they're better off now to buy at least 20 now in 2007.

The question really is, does the government care about buying more dredgers? The past two parties have shown their real talent. I'm sure if 5 dredgers were ordered at 10 crore Taka each, the total bill would've come out to be 150 Crore Taka. This includes service fees for Khaleda and Hasina's choddo gushti. As far as I know, government spending is tax free.

[BangladeshCricket]

Time for us to step us with our limitations! Can we?
I guess it's impossible. Nobody cared about it, planned about it and now it is beyond anybody's ability to help these people.

[Kabir]

Nothing's impossible in this world...NOTHING.
If there's something that needs to be done, it will to start with minimizing the catastrophic outcomes of these events. And for that, only planning and a few good & honest brains can help.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by BangladeshCricket
Time for us to step us with our limitations! Can we?
I guess it's impossible. Nobody cared about it, planned about it and now it is beyond anybody's ability to help these people.

i refuse to give up on the fate of the nation and i urge you not to either. the country is so used to corrupt politicians and officials that it could not possibly get any worse than it is now. the only way is surely up. out of the ashes of party politics would rise a new dawn of realisation that would transform the country soon. i am truly hopeful of this.

[shaad]

As Tigers_eye and Kabir pointed out earlier, we need to be proactive, instead of just reacting to circumstances. What the nation needs is a committee of bright people who function a little bit like the American FEMA used to in the pre-Bush pre-nepotism days: basically predicting future crises, and both coming up with solutions and attempting to pre-empt them.

I mean, we have already discussed some ideas about the flood. But that was just non-experts talking. The ideas need to be vetted by people who actually know what they are talking about.

Similarly, a future crisis (some of whose consequences we are already seeing: e.g. reduction of the mangrove forests) that we will have to face is the rise in sea levels due to global warming. Yes, the Dutch have experience in reclaiming land that was under the sea. But wouldn't it be better to have it not go under in the first place?

So what are people's ideas on what such a committe would entail? I would argue against making it a giant behemoth (given how easily increased levels of bureaucracy lead to corruption and nepotism in Bd), giving the committee members instead the authority to call upon appropriate liaisons. Who do you see as potential members? Obviously one needs a a CEO, but what else? I am inclined towards including a mechanical engineer (in my experience, they tend to think more outside the box than civil engineers), someone with expertise in public health planning and policy (as opposed to a generic doctor), a military liaison, an agriculturalist, and a good economist among others, but that's me. What do you think?