Govt distributes Tk 10cr relief for Aila-hit people

Realising that the scarcity of drinking water in the cyclone Aila-hit areas, the government yesterday distributed relief worth Tk 10 crore for buying, transportation and distribution of water on an emergency basis.
“We will also disburse Tk 20 crore for repairing of the damaged houses,” Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque told reporters after an emergency meeting with four other ministers at his ministry.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas attended the meeting.
Briefing newsmen, Razzaque said Tk 116 crore -- 41 crore in cash and rice and wheat worth Tk 75 crore -- would be provided for construction and repairing of coastal embankments damaged by the cyclone.
According to the water resources ministry, a total of 200 kilometre embankments have totally been damaged and 1128 km partially.
The minister said army would solely construct embankments in Sharankhola of Bagerhat, Assassuni and Shyamnagar of Satkhira district, while the water development board would build and repair others.
He said Tk 103 crore would be needed to repair roads in the cyclone-hit areas. Directions have already been given to repair them damaged roads.
HEALTH MINISTER'S BRIEFING
The health minister said the government has set up control room in every upazila and district in the affected areas and kept adequate number of medical teams on alert all time, adding that 891 medical teams have been providing healthcare service in the areas.
Unicef has provided around 60,000 bags of saline and 12.5 million water purification tablets, adding that so far 200 people have been suffering from diarrhoea. He added.