Dreams submerged yet again and again… Self respect and a little bit of sunshine is what they need. A shelter not real maybe notional

As a group providing relief during COVID or even the Amphan we have a huge responsibility towards the victims and our donors. For the donors we need perfect accounting and transparency as they need to know where and how their money is being spent. As an NGO I think this comes first and the second automatically follows.

We are often in a situation where we have to take tough decisions. Your heart bleeds and unless you are a super rich zillionaire we have to prioritise resources. If one has already promised basic relief to say 3 villages we cannot bring on the fourth without checking availability of funds and the promises we may renege on. We have to optimize resources and become hard hearted.

When Amphan broke I was devastated. I had been to Pathar Pratima post Aila and I know the havoc it can wreak. Food maybe they get from the Govt, the Aila rice they are still getting. They are helpless and victimized by the treacherous environment. Salinity preventing agriculture, man eating tigers and crocodiles, widows, poverty and what traumatizes me is the sex trafficking.

As a group we need to plan the road ahead and the policy we have to pursue. Relief is definitely foremost, immediate relief material yes. But if a team visits this area and they say that it is not food or even tarpaulins they need, they need a road map. Layers of despair, speaks through. It screams for sustained livelihood development in a planned manner.

Two weeks ago when I was desperate with heartbreak we managed to collect 3 rooms of relief including NDRF approved tarpaulins and super amounts of food. When it comes to food I have been witness and a mute spectator to disastrous decisions, Zeolite incompatible with saline water was distributed at an enormous cost, small sachets of milk are meaningless. Two tablespoons serves no purpose and the list goes on. Money that could have been better utilized, but in a group one has to conform.

When I was collecting relief a friend rightly pointed out that this is something everyone does every year. Aila, many more, Fani, Bulbul, Amphan. You need a crazy plan for this region to salvage the inhabitants from a recurring wretchedness.

One needs to take a step back from the scene and take a strong hard look. Pond emptying and filling is needed but NOT for drinking water. For livestock and clothes washing. There is a time and way. This was iterated by 3 specialists on the terrain. We cannot impuksively decide and start spending enormous amonts of money. The six ponds that were being planned for this exercise were in areas that had two overhead tanks. Isnt the money better utilized elsewhere to provide instant relief or if doing it do it the right way.

It is a known conundrum that the Bangladesh economy survives on ragi and relief. They are not very happy about the cyclone having by passed them. Sunderbans as a land is not habitable and uninhabited. Most people migrate elsewhere to find jobs. It is a well known fact that lots return during epidemics as throngs descend to hand out relief. A ferry which normally charges a pittance is now asking for Rs 8000.00. One understands the logic , anyone would do it. It’s the dynamics of economies. Demand and Supply. Unhappily unofficially this phenomenon is referred to as a Tourist opportunity. A place bereft with nothing and no one looking at them suddenly grabs eyeballs. They grab at all the straws and that is the grim reality of the situation. No more no less.

As providers it is imperative that we list out needs and at a heartbreaking cost some have to be deferred for the larger good. Often one has to take on the mantle of the bad in the interest of a rational road map.