THANK Providence we came out relatively unscathed from cyclone "Fani". However, there have been some losses of life and breaches in embankments in several regions in the coastal areas causing inundation. By the time it hit us, Fani had weakened from a severe cyclone into a tropical storm. And till going to press, we have a figure of 12 dead and around 70 injured.

The administration deserves compliments for the good advance work to mitigate the consequences. The fact that 16 lakh people were moved to storm shelters is a remarkable work. Although it is a great relief that we have come away lightly from Fani, we believe that there are some essential lessons that we should derive from this cyclone in order to obviate the likelihood of loss of life and property in future.

We believe that our attempts in future should be to implement a zero-death policy. The 12 lives lost is 12 too many, we feel, given that Bangladesh has a good record of tackling natural calamities, particularly cyclones, and for many countries we have become an example in this regard.

Thus, there is a need to assess why, given the good preparatory actions of the government and mastering of about 50 thousand volunteers this time also, lives were lost—and why some people were reluctant to move to the shelters till the very last moment, and why the embankments in certain places gave away. The number of storm shelters and their current condition need to be assessed too. All loopholes that may exist in implementing the evacuation and safety plans effectively, before and during a cyclone, should be effectively plugged.