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Devastation!

The Alouette-3 chopper takes off from Dhaka Airport before the sun rises and heads south 180 degrees, flying low at 1000 feet above sea level, just above the rising morning mist and smoke. Eighteen minutes later we are abreast of Chandpur, leaving it six miles to the left, still flying south, the horizon changing from dark grey to a lighter shade, having just passed the confluence of Buriganga and Sitalakha rivers. We are now over the vast expanse of the Brahmaputra, it does not resemble a river anymore but a sea with large islands, yet we are still over mainland Bangladesh. The shrill whine of the Alouette-3 and the occasional crackle of radio traffic are the only companions of the otherwise silent cockpit, the faces of the occupants remain grim in the still-grey ambience, a long heart rending day lies ahead.

Nothing can prepare anyone for the sight of human bodies and cattle choking the mouth of the rivers flowing into the Bay of Bengal, these are not in hundreds or thousands but in tens of thousands. You refuse to comprehend that the bodies belong to people who were as alive as you are, except that a few days earlier they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and had lost what was probably their only worldly possession in their already miserable existence, their lives. As a pilot one is deprived of the dubious pleasure of being sick even as we fly on, the sun now coming up fairly fast upto the left on the low horizon, like a red ball. The only signs of life visible at that low altitude, are occasional clusters of people on some high ground that we pass from time to time. As we cross into the Bay of Bengal, a large flat island looms up and we can make out a few river launches off to one side, we head for it. One hour and ten minutes after leaving Dhaka we land at a makeshift port in Bhola Island, five miles wide east to west, fifteen miles or so long north to south. We are now at GROUND ZERO, November 15, 1970, Bhola Island, five feet over Mean Sea Level. Fifteen thousand people on this island of 70 sq miles (more than half of the population) lost their lives during the cyclone of November 13, 1970. Conservative estimates put the dead at half a million for the whole of then East Pakistan, mainly because adequate warning was not provided and where provided, not heeded. This time around warnings were being broadcast by radio, TV, loudspeaker, etc for over three days before the calamity, sadly everyone did not listen to the warnings.

The main thrust of the present cyclone roaring north into the funnel of the Bay of Bengal hit further east this time. Based on experience of previous years, the Government of Bangladesh probably presumed that the worst affected areas would be Bhola, Manpura, etc, as in November 1970. This time the heavily populated islands of Hatiya and Sandwip have been badly affected as well as the coastal areas from Cox’s Bazar to Mahashkali, the wall of water swept away thousands while causing maximum damage in a densely populated narrow belt on-shore.

The only difference between the August 1945 photographs of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with this devastated area is that the devastated area in this case is inundated with water. The Bangladesh authorities have said that there will probably be over 200,000 dead, this figure may well double once communications with outlying areas is established, not good enough even in the best of times.

Bangladesh is a low-lying delta land that is prone to natural disasters from the north as well as the south. From the north comes the waters of the Himalayas, if the snow fall more than normal, Bangladesh has floods. Because of the Indian constructed Farakka Barrage, these devastating floods are further accentuated. The question of flooding every year is one of how many times in the year, of what intensity and of what duration, every alternate year it is catastrophic. On the other hand if enough snow does not fall in the mountains, there is severe drought in the winter, already there are signs of desertification in parts of Rangpur and Dinajpur, the northern most Divisions.

But the biggest calamity arrives periodically every decade or so from the Bay of Bengal. Cyclonic winds of over 150 miles per hour roar in from the south, whipping up the waves. The winds take away the roofs of almost all the thatched houses, uproot trees and break telephone/electric lines. Corrugated tin sheets, used mainly as roofing material, fly around like paper. But what really is fearsome is the wall of water 15 to 20 feet high that follows. This wall acts like a giant road-roller levelling everything in its path, human beings are so much flotsam carried along on its crest. If you live on an island 5-10 feet above sea level, even the second storey of a house does not provide sanctuary, maybe only 1% of the houses in that area are of concrete or have a second storey. There are some raised stone platforms but these can accommodate a very small number of people. One can well ask why do so many people live on these temporary islands when they know about the periodic devastation, the answer is these fertile but temporary islands are created by the silt of the rivers, to those afflicted with poverty and hunger for generations, this calculated risk for survival seems worth taking, the Catch-22 comes later as a form of Bangladeshi roulette.

The aftermath of a cyclone can kill many more than the cyclone itself. When the wall of sea water passes, there is no drinking water left, whatever is left is contaminated because of the dead bodies of people and cattle lying around. Food and shelter are non-existent. Without water, food and medical care, with infection everywhere, the worst phase of the disaster starts. Human beings turn to animals as they fight for whatever is left, if there is any fight left in them. Only the fittest survive or those who are lucky if some relief station is set up nearby.

Since there are virtually no road communications and Chittagong Airport, also in shambles at this time, cannot be used as a staging area because aircraft with heavier payloads cannot operate there even at the best of times, almost all the immediate relief is dependant upon helicopters or river launches. River launches can only function along the shores, so most of the burden has to fall on helicopters. Forty five million people live in the area where the cyclone hit. Compare the aid being coordinated by international team effort for three million Kurdish refugees and the problems faced by them, while most of the area is fairly accessible from adjacent countries and staging points, help is probably only a helicopter or vehicle ride away. The problem in Bangladesh is force-multiplied by the lack of communications like existing roads and railways in the affected areas. Aid in many cases will be more than a month away, many more thousands will die by then. The height of tragedy is that one must pray that the seasonal floods of Bangladesh which are almost there (1) must come early and that (2)they should be relatively light so that they will at least clear away the water salinity and the pestilence.

As is usual with disasters, the world is waking up too late to the magnitude. The good news is that the flow of aid has already started. Pakistan is immediately sending a fleet of helicopters which are badly needed. To keep the helicopters going, the Bangladesh Government has to pre-position aviation fuel and other logistics support. Coordination is extremely necessary to ensure smooth receipt, collation and distribution of aid and material. Bangladesh has a standing Disaster Relief Organisation, as such there is a built-in infrastructure to handle aid-flow. Medical aid teams are required to combat the spread of disease. Small, portable desalination plants have to be flown in. As an emergency measure, electricity has to be restored to the affected areas so that deep tubewells can start functioning. Tents and blankets are a second priority to the food and medicine that must be flown into the affected area immediately.

The Pakistan Government has responded extremely well, Nawaz Sharif took a bold step by going to Bangladesh immediately. It is only in time of trouble that good friends come to the forefront and be recognized. To that extent and more Nawaz Sharif Government has reacted with speed and purpose. We have a natural bond with the people of Bangladesh. While we can only give that much material aid, the quick response will help in fostering stronger relations with this brotherly country.

We have seen so many natural (and man-made) disasters over the past few years, yet the world has done nothing to pre-position disaster relief material in areas of frequent recurrence. Ethiopia and Bangladesh have become areas of perennial disaster, the world must do something to alleviate future suffering of these impoverished, disaster prone nations. Tents, blankets, food, medicine, portable generators and water desalination units, helicopters and air mobile vehicles must be stacked up in readiness for future problems at convenient locations either close by or within the countries. At the same time the world community must look at more permanent solutions. For Bangladesh the only solution in the south is the creation of a series of Holland-type sea dykes, expensive but much less expensive than the recent Gulf War which killed fewer people. To fulfil these projects the world community must give generous grants.

Sometimes it is necessary to graphically illustrate the disaster through the media into the drawing rooms of the unaffected, for the eyes of those who live in blissful ignorance of the plight of millions living in misery many centuries behind the rest of the world. In the meantime, one must pray for the soul of the unfortunate thousands in Bangladesh who fell victim to this great calamity.

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