Bangladesh has become so used to disasters — political, socio-economic, and natural — that Cyclone Sidr which hit the country on November 15 seemed rather mild in comparison. But there is no denying the destruction it has wreaked on an already impoverished nation, struggling to cope with a myriad of crises. Sweeping in from the Bay of Bengal, Sidr, with its high waves and gushing rains, has taken the lives of more than 3,500 people, devastated large swathes of Bangladesh’s coastal regions and destroyed the economic infrastructure of this low-lying nation of 150 million. It has turned out to be the deadliest cyclone to have hit Bangladesh in more than a decade.

Bangladesh’s geographical coordinates make it especially susceptible to the tropical storms and cyclones. The region was struck by two major cyclones, one in 1991 that killed at least 1,40,000 people, and the other in 1970 (it was East Pakistan then), when the death toll was a staggering 5,00,000.

But mercifully, Sidr was a disaster that the government and the people knew was coming; so, many lives were saved. Bangladesh’s cyclone preparedness programme and early warning system is deemed to be one of the best in the world. This resulted in the government getting the warning out on time as well as in the evacuation of nearly 3.2 million people. That, however, does not take away from the fact that the death and destruction caused by the storm has been horrific, and the issues of shelter, sanitation and water remain crucial if further devastation is to be avoided. The danger of water-borne disease remains high, and diarrhoea has already broken out. The destruction of crops and livelihoods, with around 95 per cent of rice crops to be harvested badly destroyed, means that the pressure on the government and the economy will not abate soon. In many ways, the real magnitude of the crisis will become clearer in the next few months, when the challenge of rehabilitating the estimated 25 million affected people will stare the government in the face.

... contd.