Aila-hit embankments getting quick repair

Repair works of small breaches in the dams in Satkhira are almost complete while repair of the large ones will begin today under supervision of the army, said Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque yesterday.

The minister disclosed it while distributing relief materials and Tk 5,000 each for rebuilding houses to Aila-affected families in the cyclone-hit areas in Shyamnagar and Assasuni upazilas in the district.

Many survivors requested the minister to take immediate steps to repair the large breaches in the dams as soon as possible.

"We don't want any relief. Just repair the embankment, otherwise we shall not be able to stay on it for long," Kutub Uddin, an elderly man of Dumuria village in Shyamnagar, pleaded to the minister.

He said they are getting enough relief but it would be of no use if their remaining belongings get washed away by tidal surge during the full moon.

Rabeya Khatun, another inhabitant of the village, said if the embankment is not repaired immediately their tiny shacks will be washed away.

A number of inhabitants in the two affected upazilas have been repairing the small breaches in the embankment both voluntarily and under the food for work programme.

Many of them said they don't want the Water Development Board to repair the damaged embankment rather they want to do the work on their own under supervision of the army.

Abdur Razzaque said the government has already allocated Tk 2 crore as assistance for rebuilding houses in Shyamnagar and Assasuni upazilas.

The minister also said the government has already allocated Tk 116 crore on an urgent basis for repairing the embankments.

"The government is going to allocate more money to tackle such disasters. It also estimated that Tk 340 crore will be required to make the embankments strong," he said.

Razzaque also said the affected people would be shifted to safer places if the embankments could not be repaired soon.

"If needed, we shall construct temporary tin-shed structures for them," he said adding that the relief programme will be continued until the affected people are rehabilitated.

The minister said he was surprised to see the affected people repairing the dams voluntarily amid hardship.

About 27 kilometres of the dam covering several unions of Shyamnagar upazila was completely destroyed and another 135-kilometre area of the dam was partially damaged.

Besides, around 3.9 kilometre area of the embankment in Assasuni upazila was washed away by tidal surge and another 98-kilometre area was partially damaged.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Engineering Department reinstalled 73 tub-wells in Gabura union in the last two days.