If we remember it correctly, in late eighties, a team of French engineers called for construction of massive embankments on rivers throughout the country as well as dredging of rivers to obtain low water levels at a cost of US$6 billion in 20 years time.

The American experts then dismissed the French proposal as a colossal waste of money and suggested instead for a cheap and acceptable plan that will help people live with the flood and survive. What the final decision was and what happened to the real flood control in Bangladesh afterwards we do not know.

Experience shows that praying for help for everything has almost become our national character. We seldom try to do things on our own.

For flood control, crying for help is not the solution and nobody is going to control our flood. It is the people of Bangladesh and the government who need to do the job. And how can we do it with our very limited recourses? Let us look to it.

Spending billions of dollar to control flood or to live with it? Perhaps we can not afford planning and implementing a flood control programme over 20-25 years and spending billions of dollars in the process, and it does not make any sense. We are to live with flood as the Americans said and in our own simple way we shall have to control the flood. But what is that way? What we need to do? Here is a proposal:

We need about 500 caterpillars, specially made, to construct embankments around our boarders with India from where the flood waters come. Each of these machines will cost about US$100,000 or less. These machines should run on our own natural gas keeping the running cost minimum. Total cost for these 500 caterpillars shall be about US$50/- million or much less, a small amount by any sort of calculation for such a big job. Then we need about 2,000 people to work with it and to maintain these machines 24 hours a day. Bangladesh army can recruit these people; they may remain in army pay book and shall work on site under the supervision of the army. Training for maintenance and running of the machines shall be given by the suppliers of these machines.

A Swedish company in southern Sweden makes such machines and it is possible that SIDA supplies and trains personnel to operate these machines from its international aid fund if US$50/- million is such a huge amount for Bangladesh and if we must seek help for such an important project. We can also buy these machines from Korea, China or Taiwan at much cheaper prices and on soft loan. There are hundreds of sellers ready to offer very favourable terms and conditions if Bangladesh wants to buy it.

Working 24 hours a day with these machines we can build strong embankments around our boarders with India keeping only the channels of our great rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Megna open. Then we can build strong embankments on the sides of these great rivers.

The job can be done within two years if not less. Working with firm determination and on a strong sense of self-help it is possible to come near what the French engineers proposed or the Americans suggested in late eighties.

Settlements on embankments: These embankments should be wide and strong, well connected by a long road, link roads and bridges from all sides and military barracks and residential houses for civil and military personnel shall be built on these embankments to ensure supervision and maintenance of the embankments. Simple but comfortable houses would make it possible even to minimise the shortage of housing for our population. It will also help free more land that scattered village huts have occupied in these areas. For making the embankments many pond like ditches will be required to be dug and that could be used as fresh water reservoirs and for fish farming. By using power pumps these ponds will be kept full before the dry season begins while excess water in rainy season would be allowed to flow only through the mighty Ganga, Jamuna and Megna to the Bay of Bengal. By controlling the flow of water by these embankments the river beds of all these rivers would be automatically drained due to the strong flow of water.

Houses on raised land-pad: The second step of flood control would be to organise our villages. Those scattered houses in the villages must be given-up and small township build-up throughout the country by digging canals and ponds and raising land-pads where cheap but comfortable houses shall be built along the existing major roads.

Does it sound nonsense? No, it does not. This plan seems to be expensive but it is not really, considering the benefit it would bring. It needs political and social welfare mentality of our leadership and we can get it done if we really want it by political and social movements. National awakening for self-respect and self-betterment is holy and noble. Let the fear of flood motivate us to control it in our own way and thereby change our way of live for better.