Exodus And Awareness

Eid vacation sees mass exodus to village
Taking precarious mean and mocking restriction message.
Lack of awareness and poor preparation
May make severe the next propagation.

Every year during Eid vacation there is mass exodus to villages from the big cities where millions of people dwell in uninhabitable conditions. Pandemic made it a bit difficult this year. As part of ongoing lockdown, government interdicted transport movement between cities. Government's plan to spend the Eid vacation at current location fell on deaf years. Images of people thronging in ferry ghats and huddling in ferries mocked the restrictions and awareness of people.

A news report revealed that 2.8 million people left Dhaka for Eid vacation till May 10.¹ Despite the restrictions and low traffic, many took little known routes and precarious mode of transportation to reach their desired destination. But on some occasions they were hoisted by their own petard.Between April 02 and April 09, just before introducing harder lockdown, a boat capsize near Narayanganj killed 35 persons. It had been killed by cargo vessel belonging to a ruling party MP. Passengers had been trying to go to southern districts before strict lockdown came into effect.

On May 03, a motorized boat carrying 26 passengers sank in Padma after hitting a bulkhead near Munshiganj at Shimulia ghat. All the 26 passengers, on their way to villages, were dead. Later it turned out that an untrained and addicted boy was steering the boat. On May 12, another tragedy struck at Banglabazar ghat in Madaripur. Stampede in an overcrowded ferry killed 5 passengers².

Lax oversight of restrictions contributed to this exodus and subsequent tragedies. What was worst many village-bound people paid couple of times more than the usual cost of leaving Dhaka. Motorbike service providers witnessed windfall gains. Though government deployed paramilitary forces at highways and ferry crossings, they did not prevent people leaving Dhaka.

Meanwhile, Department of Health announced that Indian variant had already been found in Bangladesh. There is fear that the variant may spread after Eid. And another wave of Dhaka-bound people will make the matter worse. So government is contemplating stringent restrictions after Eid.

A good number of people left Dhaka work in informal sector and live in shanties or coshare rooms in apartments of Dhaka. Those running the country should take fair part of the blame as politically blessed quarter is responsible for setting up illegal bazars and shanties across the big cities. Monthly payments they receive from these settlements and footpaths are astronomical. Amid propagation of Corona virus, this kind of business went on as usual.

Absence of non-farm work opportunities and higher wages in informal sector played a role in driving many villagers to settle in Dhaka.

This only increased the chance of spreading Corona virus in Bangladesh. While government imposed lockdown, it did little to start mass awareness campaign. It closed schools, shopping malls but let open markets, restaurants and bazars on footpaths.

Television channels, radio stations and social media platforms could have been used to broadcast awareness programs. Except government-run television channel and radio station, I did not see any government sponsored awareness programs on private TV and radio stations.

In a country like ours where society is agrarian and semi-literate, this kind of awareness program has immense value. High awareness level could easily curb spread of this deadly virus. From our past experience, we witnessed how this sort of promotional videos improved hygiene situation in the country.

As the US stopped supplying messenger of COVID-19 vaccine to Seram Institute of India, vaccination program in Bangladesh came to a halt. Government made significant progress in terms of purchasing vaccine from other sources. However, conditions attached to the loan provided by ADB and World Bank stressed that money should only be spent for purchase of WHO approved vaccine³. Conditions set by Sputnik-V producer also made the prospect of buying Russian vaccine bleaker.

However, private pharmaceutical companies can step forward and produce the vaccine at home. Government will be relieved as it will have to borrow less for mass vaccination if 10 million or more people get vaccine from private sources.

Luckily, Sinopharma's vaccine got WHO's approval. And 500, 000 ampules of vaccine were given as g.

But government's preparation for another wave of COVID-19 is deeply worrying. Last year a plan conceived to turn a Dhaka North City Corporation market into a COVID-19 hospital did not get off the ground in time. It was delayed by a year and when the press was abuzz with second wave in India, it was officially launched. Even private sector is less shy to come forward in aiding the government in its pandemic handling initiatives. Last year at least several conglomerates set up specialized centers to treat Covid patients. One can hardly spot any this year when the situation may turn more dire than previous year.

In addition, no simulation operation or contingency plan is taken from the part of government if a situation like India crops up here. In such a situation there may be dearth of care givers. So far I have not yet seen any increase in number of care givers. Additional care givers may be drawn from scouts, volunteer groups or militia like Ansar and VDP. If they are exposed to a little bit of training , they may turn out to be handy in times of need.

Exodus management and preparation of COVID-19 show government is depending on mercy of God. After Eid vacation when restrictions will be eased, daily wage earners will rush to Dhaka and other big cities. As the fear of another wave looms large, speeding up the vaccination program in crowded cities appears to be the pragmatic solution at the moment.

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Notes And References:

1. Dhaka Cherechhe 28 Lakh Manush(28 Lakh People Have Left Dhaka),a news report by Daily Prothom Alo, May 11,2021.

2. A news report by bdnews24.com on the tragic speed boat crash. https://m.bdnews24.com/samagrabangladesh/detail/home/1889826

3. Russia'r Tika Kena Baron(Russian Vaccine Cannot Be Purchased), a news report by Daily Prothom Alo, May 12.