The cyclone and a suggestion
Like everyone else I am very sad at the deaths of so many people in coastal Bangladesh. As I type this, scientists are expressing their consensus and mutual concerns about global warming. Bangladesh will be one of the first countries to be affected by the predicted rise of the sea level. However, this country's population density will work like a catalyst to already present sufferings if weather pattern takes a drastic turn. NGOs and many other derivative organisations of UN have been running family development projects in Bangladesh for a while and the long standing slogan for family planning has been “Boys or Girls: Two Children Are Enough.” Now I think it's about time we changed that number two ONE. My reasoning is simple and is based on strategic common sense. During any natural disasters, one has to provide extra logistics for the safety of the children. Of course, readers will find my argument crude, materialistic and devoid of any spiritual value. But survival requires cold logic. I suggest the Bangladesh government initiate a study about a possible scenario--based on the current population growth, of resource distribution and geographical concentration of large families and how they may become a negative factor in any long range disaster management programme. If Bangladesh's people are affected by erratic weather patterns, the neighbouring countries will be affected as wellpossibly by geophysical problems of their own as well as by the surge of refugees from the bordering nations. So, it will be very helpful if Saarc begins a sincere, TRULY joint agency to integrate population study, environmental study, and disaster management.. They can incorporate NGOs and other offices of interest, and can initiate a region-wide population management (I did not use the word CONTROL, management is a better civilized option to my taste.) programme with global warming in focus. For a long time, many of our policies have been made with a static, steady paced environment in mind. But, during the last fifty years or so, environment has become fast pacedmore dynamic in terms of change. Population management is one of the first steps of strategic disaster management. New trend in consumerism has also contributed to sporadic, environmentally unsound industrial growth in South Asia. It's taking up the open lands and their trees. As if all bad things are running in unison to a common catastrophe. Uncontrolled population boom (no matter how nice the statistics show, Bangladesh has always been on the top of the densely populated nations) will just make it more severe. Please think ahead; keep three things in mind: people, environment, disaster and how intimately they are related. We may not be able to stop human sufferings, but we may be able to reduce the number of those who suffer.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments