Ostrich mentality?
I am an expatriate Indian Muslim working in Bangladesh for the last two years. Everyday I read articles about conditions on Bangladesh, especially about its worsening power and water situation and how nothing is being done to bring about a change in the situation.
No one seems to be spared by the daily power cuts. A recent article on ground water depletion in the Daily Star made for alarming reading. Everywhere I go, I see unplanned development. Furthermore, the government is also not encouraging conservation of power, fuel and water. Neither is it looking at other avenues to either increase the availability of or reduce the dependency on the resources the country has at present.
Bangladesh is a country blessed with abundant sunshine and rain throughout the year. Is the government trying to promote solar energy or harvest rain water? Solar energy can help provide light on streets, homes and offices. If channelised properly, it can lead to savings of millions of taka for the government and help fund other infrastructure projects.
In India, all domestic consumers of power are given a rebate on their electricity bills if the houses also have solar energy panels installed.
Similarly, in the city of Chennai (erstwhile Madras), having a rain water tank is a must in every new building plan sanctioned by the City Corporation. This water is purified through a natural filter process consisting of stones, bricks and sand and can be used to wash clothes and vehicles and water plants. It has helped Chennai eradicate the problem of drinking water completely.
Similarly, ideas like car pooling, waste paper recycling, electric cars and bikes, wind energy, desalinization of water, etc., have helped a multitude of countries which are short of resources tide over these problems. These ideas are fast catching up everywhere.
Why then are the people responsible not looking at alternative measures of energy and water harvesting here? Are we then sitting like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand, unwilling to look at the danger or other alternatives before us? Bangladesh has everything going its way in terms of natural resources. All it needs is political will to change the present situation. This can only happen when we start to believe that Bangladesh can be self-sufficient and does not have to depend on anyone else.
I fervently hope I see this day soon.
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