Floods

Drowned in misery!. PHOTO: AFP

In agricultural rural areas, floods bring fertilizer (though the overflowing silt) to the top soil in organic form, which are different from the man-made chemicals used these days. The advantage has been noted for decades, according to well established reference available in the research organisations. The role of Nature, it is said, is not cruel, but corrective (one reason for the emphasis on the Greenhouse Effect).

Human improvisations, scientific or otherwise, do have effect on natural phenomenon (viz family planning, epidemics, genetic engineering, seeds, eco-control projects, etc). Now scientists are busy trying to predict floods due to climate changes, compared to the normal seasonal floods (DS, Aug 4); but long-term predictions are as yet immature (like predicting the weather with detailed precision, as the changing variables are too many at too short intervals).

At the moral, spiritual or philosophical plane, floods do have side effects, which are of course outside the sphere of popular reading. Economic gains, losses or profits depend on many factors. But the cause-and-effect theories can cite examples from lives at different levels of the society. The terms barkat, fortune, misfortune, kapaal, taqdir come in for introspection.

"Easy come, easy go" (wealth) is not a fashionable coinage. Only the person adversely affected can undertake self-analysis and find some answers to the riddles of mundane life. Mystics call it the Law of Compensation. It is more acceptable in the East than in the materialistic West.

Here in Bangladesh the monsoon season brings in about two billion tons of silt and huge volumes of water in this delta region covering a vast area, including two of the longest rivers in the world, rising from the Himalayas, and falling into the Bay of Bengal, passing through Bangladesh. The magnitude of the mega-problems involved is staggering, requiring close regional cooperation and coordination.

It is a matter of pride for the students of Dhaka University that any kind of protest against immorality begins here. The students gather at the foot of the "Apporajeoy Bangla" of the Arts Building and start their processions. Just as they did in the "Ershad Hotao" movement.

Whenever the country is in trouble, it is the same students who stand by the general people of the country. In this devastating flood all over the country, TSC of Dhaka University is playing a big role. If you enter the compound of TSC you will see different banners showing the names of the groups who are collecting money and goods for the flood affected people. A tent has been set up on the front side to give information on how to submit your donation. Inside TSC, the cafeteria has been turned into the headquarters for controlling relief operations. Flour, rice and dry foods are first coming in sacks to that room. The BNCC cadets of Dhaka University are on duty to manage any kind of disorder.

And the game room on the other side is serving as the kitchen for making ruti and oral saline. The members of Samajtantrik Chhatro Front are working there. But any student or anyone who wants help can join them in making ruti.

If you walk a bit further to the end of TSC, you will see a banner saying "Tran Bhandar." The chess room is functioning as the centre of collecting relief goods of "Sammillito Sangskritik Oikkyo Jote". People are packing dry foods like chira, gur and biscuits there. Clothes donated by the students of the halls of the university are kept in the room.

Different cultural groups are arranging charity show in the TSC auditorium. The poem recitation groups arranged programmes at Raju Bhaskorjo near TSC. The people passing by the place watch the show and donate whatever they can for the flood victims.

Anyone interested in contributing something for the flood-affected people can contact the headquarters at TSC. Let us all stand by the afflicted.

Sabreena Ahmed Department of English, University of Dhaka