Human made deluge?
an estimated 2,750 Bangladeshi villagers who lost their homes in heavy floods last May, have petitioned the World Bank ( wb ) for redress. They opine that the floods in central Bangladesh were more due to the digging of a diversion channel in the area and the construction of new embankments to make way for a wb -funded bridge. The bridge is expected to carry road and rail traffic as well as electric and gas-lines.
A three-member inspection panel from wb is going through the petition and will recommend to the wb board if it warrants further investigation. The petition stated that "We derive our subsistence from the land and water, the char (natural sand islands in the river built by alluvial deposits) and the river. Our agriculture, fishery, transportation, rituals, social harmony have an inseparable link with the river. Damage to the ecological balance to such a degree because of this kind of human action amounts to a deliberate denial of our right to live and exist.'