Ananya Dutta

GOSABA (SUNDERBANS): Though large amounts of relief materials were rushed to the Sunderbans when cyclone Aila ripped through large areas here on May 25, three months later the supplies have dried up, now that the immediate crisis is over.

Despite being one of the most disaster-prone countries, Bangladesh's preparation for earthquake management is "almost zero", a top government official said on Wednesday while announcing a Tk 350 crore preparedness project.

State Minister for Environment and Forest Hasan Mahmud said Bangladesh as one of the most affected countries due to world climate change impacts has been tirelessly working to save its land and resources from the environmental hazards by managing its internal rivers.

Food shortage may have forced diet change on july 17, Sunderbans forest officials posted in Netidhopani came across a dead tiger near their field office. A post mortem revealed the tiger had eaten two cobras, one of them was a king cobra. Tigers are not known to prey on snakes; wildlife experts speculate the tiger may have eaten them because of food shortage caused by cyclone Aila

There is a time bomb ticking under the world, but its leaders seem not to be aware of it. This bomb is different from any that war, terrorism and the movies have made us familiar with, because it cannot be defused at the last moment. This one has to be defused as soon as we hear it ticking. Otherwise, the countdown becomes unstoppable. All we can then do is run for shelter.

Speakers at a discussion yesterday said as the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters has been increasing rapidly in coastal belt due to climate change impacts, the government should take specific steps to protect some 3.48 crore people in the areas.

People living in the coastal belts are becoming more vulnerable day by day, they added.

Apart from granting Rs 1,000 crore as compensation for the Aila affected people, the Centre ahs also sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for provision of solar lanterns to the Aila-affected blocks in the Sunderbans area.

The ministry of new and renewable energy has sanctioned this grant of Rs 1.5 crore to provide 14,000 solar lanterns to the Aila-affected people of Hingalgunj, Gosba and Patharpratima.

Threats of hazards are still not taken seriously in Pakistan to the extent of taking precautionary measures in an institutional form. The country has been facing socio-economic losses as hazards are converted into disasters. Earthquakes, floods, droughts, tsunamis and cyclones have occurred in different parts of the country in the recent past.

Japan will aid US$9.1 million Bangladesh under World Food Programme to provide food assistance to the ultra-poor living in areas to floods, riverbank erosion, coastal cyclones and tidal surges.

The United Nations World Food Prgoramme (WFP) yesterday welcomed the Japanese contribution of US $9.1 million.