South
Asia Monsoon Crisis Presents An Opportunity To Learn
And Prepare For Future Crisis
By Brian McAfee
15 August, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Is
the South Asia monsoon a harbinger of things to come and will we be
ready next time around? The perennial monsoon floods that have devastated
parts of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal are said to be the worst in 30
years. The death toll has surpassed 2,200, made over twenty million
people homeless and resulted in massive crop failure, ensuring hunger,
poverty and homelessness for millions of men, women and children in
South Asia for some time to come.
The flooding is particularly
dangerous for children. With many completely cut off from clean water.
Ingesting flood water was unavoidable, and drinking and cooking with
flood water laden with contaminants has resulted in widespread diarrhea.
Diarrhea is one of the most deadly and common killers of the poor.
Aside from the three nations
impacted from the initial monsoon, Pakistan has also been hit, though
a bit later, with 22 deaths reported. The monsoon season goes through
September and more flooding is expected. Some criticism has been lodged
against the governments of South Asia, particularly India, for not having
been prepared for an entirely predictable situation.
This years flooding could
and should be a wake up call. With global warming now an obvious reality
and the gradual melt of the Himalayas, the rising sea level displacement
of people is a fact and governments not preparing for it can only be
construed as cruel, selfish, or foolhardy.
The U.S., as the richest
and most developed country in the world, has a moral and humanitarian
obligation to the poor regions of the world. The U.S. should, of course,
scrap their "war on terror", their militarism that only benefits
the arms industry and attempts to control oil and other resources outside
of the United States.
The war on terror should
be replaced with a Global War On Poverty. A part of a Global war on
poverty would be troubleshooting predictable events like the South Asia
monsoons so that we would be fully prepared ahead of time. And counter
to the current U.S. penchant for unilateralism, the new Global war On
poverty would involve all effected countries in dialogue and preparatory
activities for natural disasters. Other areas of a Global war on poverty
would be hunger/starvation related issues, education, agriculture and
micro-lending.
The regions hardest hit in
India are the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Orissa.
Forty percent of Bangladesh was flooded as well as the southern part
of Nepal. The apparent Saints in the South Asia monsoon have been the
varied aid agencies that have responded to the disaster. Oxfam, AmeriCares,
World Vision, among other aid agencies, are doing their best under under
all too often dire circumstances.
Oxfam has been providing
water and shelter while AmeriCares has been providing water purification
tablets and medicines to combat dengue fever, another flood related
killer. These and other aid agencies have spread across the flood area,
but more is needed and will be needed. Related websites that I encourage
people to check out are- www.reliefweb.int, www.oxfam.org, www.americares.org,
and www.worldvision.org, specify what project you want your money to
go to if you choose to donate. There are of course other aid organizations
but whatever one you choose you must do your homework as some are less
legitimate than others.
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