Floods cover one third of the country and knock out economy
Ranks of the homeless reach 30 million. Government seeks foreign aid.
Dhaka (AsiaNews/AP) Six weeks of flooding have left Bangladesh counting its human and economic losses. With one third of the country under water, its textile sector has been particularly hit by the devastating monsoon rains. At US$ 4 billion, textiles represent 80% of the country's exports, half for the US market alone.
In Narayanganj, just east of the capital Dhaka, 120 garment factories have had to cut production because of labour shortages. "More than 60% of my workers have not been able to come to work for the past 20 days," said Mohammed Hatem, owner of a knitwear factory employing some 500 people. "Supply of raw materials has also been seriously disrupted," he added.
Some companies have resorted to paying a daily "risk allowance" of 25 takas ( 0.35, US$ 0.43) to encourage workers to come to work. Saiful Islam is one of them. Busy with an order for a foreign client, he said: "I continue to work because I have a small child and aged parents at home."
According official estimates, financial losses due to flood damages have reached US$ 6.7 billion, textile sector and infrastructures included.
In the meantime, lightening, landslides and disease keep on claiming victims among the population. So far the official tally speaks of 586 flood-related deaths and 30 million people made homeless, figures higher than anything experienced in previous extreme weather events.
Last week the water levels of the Gange, Megna and Brahmaputra rivers started to drop, but experts warn that it is just the beginning of the monsoon season. Worse can still happen and the situation is likely to deteriorate even further.
The worse hit areas are in south-central Bangladesh in and around the cities of Brahmanbaria, Barisal and Dhaka. Thousands of families there are living in hundreds of flood shelters and in 1571 converted schools.
Lack of drinking water, overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions are ideal for the incubation and the spread of dysentery, diarrhoea, and typhus. Respiratory infections are commonplace among children and their main cause of death.
Drinking water remains the priority, but not the only one. For an elderly resident of Dhaka, Mokbul Ahmed, people "also need food to eat. Water alone cannot keep us alive for long." Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibn Yusuf is reassuring: "No one will die from starvation. [. . .] We are getting international assistance in addition to our own food stocks."
The government has been coping with the crisis on its own, but has appealed to the international community for assistance and reconstruction aid.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia visited yesterday one of the worst stricken areas in Konapara Mannan. (MA)
.png)
