Minister blames high tide for failure

Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque yesterday termed the sea level rise as a reason for the failure to fix some embankments damaged by the cyclone Aila in the southwest coast last year.
He was speaking at the inauguration of a workshop on disaster management for journalists at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
"We failed to ensure return of some people to their houses as some particular embankments could not be repaired due to high tide" Razzaque said at the workshop organised by DRU in association with Disaster Management Bureau (DMB).
According to a rough estimate, over one lakh people in four worst hit upazilas--Dakop and Koira of Khulna and Shaymnagar and Ashashuni of Satkhira--are still living in the makeshift tents on the embankments.
The houses of the victims are regularly flooded by river tides.
The tide was never so high as it was during February and March this year, the minister said, adding: "This means there is already a rise of sea level".
The minister made the remark amid widespread allegations that Water Development Board (WDB) was very late to start repairing the embankments.
Though Aila hit the southwest coast on May 25 last year, WDB gave work orders to fix the embankments to the contractors on February 2 this year.
To construct the dams during the dry season between October and January was the most sought after demand of the people in the region.
WDB Superintendent Engineer in Khulna Giasuddin Ahmed earlier told The Daily Star that they were late in inviting tenders as the government waited in vain for foreign funds.
However, finally WDB undertook the repairs with the help of the government's own fund.
The minister said climate change is a big treat to the country's food security.
"We could earlier produce 1.8 million tonnes of wheat but now the production decreased to 1 million only," Razzaque said, adding that temperature is increasing day by day in Bangladesh.
The funds, be it domestic or foreign, must be used for direct benefit of the victims of climate change instead of holding seminars and so-called awareness building activities by the NGOs, he said.
Seventy five per cent of a Tk 700 crore Climate Change Trust Fund will be used for building infrastructure while the rest for creating awareness, Razzaque said.
He asked the journalists to increase their professionalism on these issues. The government will also facilitate it, he stressed.
DMB Director General Ahsan Zakir, DRU vice-president Aazmul Haq Helal and General Secretary Pathik Saha, among others, spoke.