Diarrhoea spreads in cyclone hit south and south-eastern districts amid water crisis

Staff Correspondent, NewAge, June 3, 2009

People in the remote areas of the south and south-eastern districts, inundated by tidal surges associated with cyclone Aila on May 25, are still facing acute crisis of drinking water, food and medicine amid an alarming spread of water borne diseases.
   

A total of 17,708 persons contracted diarrhoea in Khulna and Satkhira in the past seven days, said offices of the civil surgeons. On Tuesday alone, 4,320 people with diarrhoea were treated in the hospitals of the two districts.
   

Political parties in the affected region alleged lack of coordination in relief and rehabilitation activities in the southwest districts even after visits by ministers.
   

Donor agency Oxfam on Tuesday said more help from the international communities in relief and rehabilitation activities was needed in the affected areas where water became contaminated and diseases were spreading fast.
   

The sanitation systems have collapsed in the affected areas and human, animal and fish corpses are polluting the countryside, the organisation said and branded the affected areas as ‘an ideal breeding ground for all kinds of diseases’
   

Reports from Barisal said more than five thousand tube-wells in the Brasial division were out of order, triggering acute crisis of drinking water while water-borne diseases were spreading.
   

The Barisal public health engineering office said they had repaired about two thousand tube-wells. Sources in the office said a total of 5,203 tube-wells were out of order in six districts of the division.
   

Infiltration of saline water and filling of sand and mud after embankments and flood control dams were broken in the affected areas, especially on the shoals and coastal regions, damaged the tube wells.
   

Md Yunus Ali, superintending engineer of Barisal PHE, said teams of mechanics have already been sent to the affected areas and already 2,000 tube-wells have been repaired and the rest would repaired or replaced within this month.
   

Reports from remote areas in Satkhira, Khulna and Barguna said the relief materials that reached the areas were inadequate and the affected people also alleged mismanagement in the distribution of the little food and water.
   

In remote Shyamnagar of Satkhira, where diarrhoea is spreading alarmingly, people said they did not get medicine while the medical officers working in the affected region said they had enough medicine in their stock but failed to reach them to the remote areas for lack of transpiration or funds.
   

‘Medicines could not be reached to the remote villages as boat was the only mean of transpiration when people in the areas are in bad need of medicine,’ said Ataur Rahman who leads nine medical teams at Shyamnagar.
   

Members of medical teams deployed in different areas of Shyamnagar and Dacope said they were reaching the remote villages in boats on their own funding and it is tough for them to continue the medical services in this way.
   

The Satkhira civil surgeon, Ebadullah, and the Khulna civil surgeon, Md Lutfor Rahman, said they did not get any fund for transporting the medicine to the remote areas.
   

They claimed that they were trying to send the medicine at the earliest and the medical teams have been spending money on their own.
   

The Khulna district and city units of BNP in a press conference on Tuesday alleged that they observed lack of coordination in the post-Aila rehabilitation activities in the southwest districts, even after visits by the ministers to the Aila-hit areas.
   

The party alleged that though lakhs of people have been passing days half-fed or unfed after the cyclone, the government has not taken effective steps.
   

It called on the government, donor agencies and the affluent to stand by the affected people.

Aila damage estimated at Tk 1,020 crore

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka NewAge, June 4, 2009

The country has suffered a financial loss of about Tk 1,020 crore and a production loss of crops of nearly 3.75 lakh tonnes as over 2.50 lakh hectares of land had been submerged due to the recent devastating cyclone Aila. 
   

The Department of Agricultural Extension disclosed this Wednesday after conducting a final assessment on the extent of damage to the crops.
   

Various standing crops, including aus seedbeds, aus paddy, boro paddy, jute, chilli, vegetables, nut, palm, mung, betel leaf, banana, papaya and mango, have been damaged as the cyclone Aila hit the south-western parts of the country.
   

Meanwhile, the DAE has already taken up a rehabilitation programme for T-aman cultivation involving Tk 32.50 crore in upcoming July considering the loss of about 50 per cent crops. 
   

The programme will implement in 12 worst cyclone-hit districts of Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barisal, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Bhola, Barguna, Jhalakati, Chittagong, Lakshmipur and Noakhali.
   

A high official of the DAE told the news agency that despite the loss of various crops, the government will provide assistance for cultivation of a particular crop like T-aman.

Considering the overall loss by the farmers, the government is likely to continue the programme up to the boro season, the official said adding that sub-assistant officers of the DAE had already prepared lists of the affected farmers.
   

About 44,082 hectares of land, and over one lakh poor and marginal farmers will be brought under the assistance programme, said the DAE official.
   

A farmer will get five kgs of seeds, 18 kgs of urea and 8 kgs of triple super phosphate and 9 kgs of muriate of potash for cultivating a bigha of land under the programme.
   

The government will provide 1,400 tonnes of T-aman seeds, 2,400 tonnes of TSP, 5,000 tonnes of urea and 2,800 tonnes of MoP fertilisers for the farmers.
   

Besides, the Islamic Development Bank under the Jeddah declaration will provide seeds and fertilisers worth Tk 13.36 crore for the cyclone-hit poor and marginal farmers free of cost.

Aila-hit embankments getting quick repair

The Daily Star, 5, 2009

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.

Rain adds to sufferings of Aila survivors

The Daily Star, June 4, 2009

Rain yesterday added to the sufferings of the cyclone Aila survivors who took shelter on embankments in different areas under Shyamnagar and Assassuni upazilas.

Moreover, the cyclone victims in the remotest areas are still not getting adequate relief allegedly for lack of co-ordination among the relevant authorities.

On the other hand, diarrhoea is spreading fast in these worst Aila-hit upazilas as at least 6,324 people were attacked with the disease till yesterday since the storm on May 25.

Cyclone victim Sultan Gazi, 40, son of Gahar Ali Gazi of village 10 No Sora died of diarrhoea yesterday. More than 250 patients were admitted to hospitals and other local health camps, according to district health department.

Meanwhile, Health and family planning minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haque yesterday visited different cyclone affected areas of the two upazilas and distributed relief materials among the victims.

While addressing people at Abadchandi-pur in Shyamnagar upazila and at Chakla in Assassuni upazilas, he said the government has taken a decision to rebuild the breached embankments by June to mitigate sufferings of the victims.

The re-construction work of the breached embankments, led by Army, would start from June 4, he said.

Distribution of relief materials and healthcare services would continue till rehabilitation of the cyclone survivors and no one would die of starvation or for lack of medicine, he said.