Editorial
Aila victims still in lurch
Somebody must be held to account
It's a shame that we have to deal with the fall out of cyclone Aila which hit the southwestern part of the country in May 2009. The crack it created in the embankment has still to be repaired.
The saline water is rushing through the crack during high tide swamping 5000 acres of land in Betkashi union in Koira, Khulna. Over the last two years the crack have developed further threatening the whole region. People of the area have been living on embankments and on platforms made of bamboos ever since the cyclone struck, making lives miserable and unsure.
Hundreds of men, women and children are now passing their days in hunger and want of drinking water. As the monsoon nears people remain apprehensive of the dangers ahead. The days of cyclone and tidal surge are here, and there's no protection to save lives and property. As it is, the upcoming monsoon holds uncertain days pushing the entire region into a new kind of vulnerability.
The embankment which is a fifty year old structure topped off by a widening breach always needed repair on a priority basis. It is an indictment on the local administration and particularly on BWD board that even after two years no serious effort is in sight to complete the repair and ensure protection of the place and people.
According to the admission of a BWDB official, unless the embankment is re-designed it might not withstand another natural disaster. Has the BWDB moved the higher authorities on this point, or is it an excuse for their failure to repair the cracks for so long?
Quite clearly an intervention for a high level is required to move the juggernaut to ensure survival of these hapless people.
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