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TWIN twisters with ferocious velocity ripped through several villages of Netrakona and Mymensingh districts last Wednesday evening when millions of people across the country were busy in celebrating the Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bengali New Year with traditional festivity. The tornadoes that had caught thousands of villagers off guard played havoc for a few minutes and left behind a trail of devastations. At least 70 persons were killed and many more injured. Thousands of houses and other structures were razed to the ground and crops, damaged.
Natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, tornadoes etc. do frequently strike different areas of Bangladesh. Though such calamities have been responsible for loss of so many lives and damage to properties, the people, to a great extent, have learnt to live with the same. And once a natural calamity is over, the affected people immediately start rebuilding work and try to recoup material losses as far as possible. Since the worst floods of 1988, the rural people have developed a kind of resilience in the face of frequent natural calamities. Not the people alone, the administration, too, in the recent past proved itself better prepared for disaster management. The 1991 cyclone and 1998 floods are glaring examples when the government within the shortest possible time could manage the rehabilitation of hundreds of thousands of people in the affected areas.
On the next day of the tornadoes hitting the villages of Netrakona and Mymensingh, the President and a number of ministers including the ministers for disaster management and health rushed to the affected areas and tried to help the people on the spot. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament also have visited some of the affected areas to express sympathy with the people there. The administration and the opposition political parties do deserve appreciation for showing their concern for the affected people. But the people hit by tornadoes are in need of more than sympathies since they are very poor and have lost almost everything. There are families that have lost their only earning members. It is true that the people, who are now going through a difficult time, would start life anew after a dew days. But for a definite period of time they would require the help of others. In this case, the government should take the lead role. The relief agencies and the NGOs should also participate actively in the relief and rehabilitation work.
The role of the administration of the two districts, therefore, is very crucial. If they, in keeping with the tradition, cease to act in the affected areas as soon as the visits of the VVIPs and VIPs are over, that would be very unfortunate. According to reports published in national dailies Saturday, tornado-hit people are going without food, shelter and safe drinking water. Is it very difficult on the part of the administration to mitigate the sufferings of the people of a few villages? Not only the people in the affected areas are in need of help at their individual family level but also at the community level. The twisters have flattened schools and madrashas and uprooted tube-wells. The district administration should immediately take steps to re-install tube- wells and reconstruct schools and madrashas. The ministry of relief and disaster management and other agencies concerned do have to work closely to help the tornado-hit villages at least for the time being.
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