Flooded due to waterlogging since Aila on May 25 this year, a school in Moheshwaripur union under Koira upazila of Khulna district remains closed till date, right, a road damaged by the cyclone in the area is yet to be repaired.Photo: STAR

Thousands of people of Koira upazila in Khulna district, who were rendered homeless by cyclonic storm Aila on May 25 this year, are still suffering from the pangs of hunger and diseases and want of safe drinking water.
To ensure food supply, local people have demanded immediate introduction of rationing system in the areas ravaged by storm and tidal surges.
"Introduction of rationing system would benefit the Aila victims much more than relief goods. Relief goods provided earlier were too inadequate and it did not reach even 50 percent of the victims," Koira upazila Chairman Md Mohsin Reza told this correspondent last week.
He suggested construction of 'permanent and effective' embankments to save the upazila from havoc by frequent cyclonic storms and tidal surges.
According to findings of a survey conducted by Koira upazila administration, the May 25 Aila has caused damage to crops and properties worth about Tk 10,000 crore in the upazila, he said.
"But the rehabilitation and reconstruction process is meagre and too slow," he observed.
The tidal surges following Aila washed away shrimp enclosures and hatcheries worth over Tk 100 crore.
The cyclonic storm caused damage to crops of over 14,143 hectares of land, 75 educational institutions, 192 mosques and temples, 105 kilometres of metalled roads, 382 kilometres of non-metalled roads and several bridges.
All the dykes and embankments constructed by Water Development Board were damaged.
The storm caused extensive damage to trees, households and personal belongings of the villagers in all the seven unions under Koira upazila, the survey report said.
Aila claimed lives of 41 people and affected one lakh and sixty thousand others in the upazila, it said.
The total amount of loss would be higher as waterlogging problem in all the unions under the upazila is yet to be solved, observe officials.
Following cyclone Aila, Koira upazila had the most devastating tidal surges in its history.