Dam breach panics people in southwest

Tapos Kanti Das . Khulna NewAge, June 7, 2009

Villagers in the southwest, still facing inundation because of tidal surges associated with cyclone Aila, were panicked as the flood water level suddenly rose by two feet on an average under the influence of full moon on Saturday.
   

According to locals and relief workers, the collapsed dams which were repaired by the locals again breached at No 2 Koyra, Padna, Patharkhali and Patakhali points under Koyra and Shyamnagar because of the sudden rise in water level.
   

‘Water is entering the villages overflowing the dams and at places the repaired portions of the dams breached again,’ Amjadul Islam, chairman of Padmapukur union council, said.
   

‘Most of the people have taken shelter on the high embankments and in the shelter houses and only a few were staying in their houses building platforms,’ he said. He also said he has asked the people living near the dams to move to safer places.
   

‘There is nobody in our village now. Our homesteads are inundated and we are worried as the dams breached again,’ said Shawkat Ali Sana of No 2 Koyra.
   

Koyra union council chairman HM Shahabuddin Ahmed said they were trying to repair the breached points.
   

A total of 594km embankment of the Water Development Board were damaged in Khulna including 90km in Koyra, 118km in Dacope, 200km in Paikgachha, 181km in Batiyaghata, 1km in Dumuria and 4km in Rupsa.
   

Meanwhile, waterborne diseases continued to spread in the inundated areas.
   

People were on rush for relief materials. It was raining almost everyday causing more sufferings to the people.
   

The Koyra upazila chairman, GM Mohsin Reza, told New Age that the people will not be able to survive if the dams were not repaired or reconstructed immediately.

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.

Dams repairs yet to begin in most of south

Staff Correspondent, NewAge, June 2, 2009

The emergency repair and reconstruction of flood-control dams and embankments breached by tidal surges, caused by cyclone Aila on May 25, are yet to begin in most districts in the south, even a week after the disaster that inundated large tracts of land.
   

Even the dams and embankments damaged by super-cyclone Sidr in 2007 were not repaired, which resulted in damage and inundation on May 25 that were far more severe than they should have been.
   

A total stretch of about 168km of flood-control dams was damaged completely and 1060km partially in nine southern districts, along with 296 sluice gates and other installations.
   

Sources in the Water Development Board said they have submitted a demand letter for allocation of Tk 650 core to the ministries concerned, but repair work is yet to be started as the fund has not been approved so far, reported our correspondent in Barisal.
   

WDB sources said the ministry had asked them to start repair work under the Food for Work programme as allotment of fund before the budget might not be possible.
   

Our correspondent in Patuakhali said the local office of the WDB has started repairing dams in several places of the district.
   

People marooned in the coastal districts said that more areas would be flooded if the dams were not repaired before the appearance of the next full moon.
   

Villages and croplands are being inundated by saline water during high tide. If they cannot be protected from saline water, cultivation of Aman rice might not be possible this season, said Fazlul Karim, a farmer of village Nachna Para in Kalapara of Patuakhali.
   

Another farmer of the same village said that they are suffering very much as they failed to reconstruct their houses because of the water that rushes into the villages during high tide through the breaches in the dams.
   

Md Zahirul Islam, executive engineer of the WDB in Patuakhali, told New Age that they have begun repair work in Lalua, Chakamoya and Khaprabhanga unions of Kalapara, Panpatti, Barabaishdia and Maudubi unions of Galachipa, and Kachipara, Dhulia, Kalaia and Keshabpur unions of Bauphal.
   

WDB sources in Barisal said the proposed repair and reconstruction budget of the dams and embankments damaged by Sidr had been reduced to Tk 725 crore from Tk 2,000 crore due to fund crunch. Later a Tk 180.84 crore project was approved by the World Bank which included construction, repair and rehabilitation of flood-control dams and embankments, but the project could not be implemented due to fund replacement crisis.
   

In such a situation the WDB’s zonal office in Barisal sought an initial sanction of Tk 131 crore to repair and reconstruct damaged dams and embankments in six districts of the division: Barisal, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Barguna, Bhola and Jhalakati
   Barisal WDB sources said that at least Tk 49.38 crore was needed for immediate reconstruction of at least an 8km stretch of dams, repair of 44km stretch of dams and 43 regulators.
   

If repair is not completed within June, monsoon rains and storms and astronomical tides would throw the situation totally out of control, they warned.
   The chief engineer of Barisal zone WBD, AKM Mokhlesur Rahman, and superintending engineer, Akhtar Alam, said it would take a much longer time to complete the repair work if allocation of fund was delayed.

Aila sufferings to last for months, Repair of damaged embankments to take long time

Wasim Bin Habib and Abu Ahmed, from Satkhira, The Daily Star, June 2, 2009

The survivors of cyclone Aila in Satkhira are unlikely to be relieved of their sufferings anytime soon as it will take several months to complete the repair works of the damaged embankments there.

Losing almost everything to Aila, a family waits for a launch at Burigoalini Launch Ghat in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira with a few household items and poultry as they start their search for shelter. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Although the authorities concerned began repairing small breaches in the dams, it might not be possible to repair the large ones before the end of the rainy season because of strong current, river erosion and shortage of spare earth nearby.

Moreover, the water level of the rivers will rise in the next full moon with a possibility of breaching the embankments again. The overall situation might take a serious turn in monsoon.

The inhabitants of Aila-hit Shyamnagar and Assasuni upazilas fear that further rainfall might create fresh cracks in the embankments.

The sufferings of the cyclone survivors who took shelter on the embankment at Shyamnagar increased further due to raining yesterday.

“We have lost everything. The rain even damaged our fragile shelter where I spent the last few days with my five family members. But now we have nowhere to sleep,” said Abdulla Biswas of Kalinchi village in Shyamnagar.

Many survivors have already started moving to safer places.

Lutfur Rahman, executive engineer of Division-1 of Water Development Board (WDB), told The Daily Star yesterday, “It will be quite difficult to repair the embankments in many areas especially at Gabura during the rainy season due to rise in water level by a few feet and strong current.”

“Giant waves will lash the embankment during the full moon within a week,” he said.

The executive engineer said the repair works of the small breaches at different points in the dam have already begun under the food for work programme.

Since the repair work will begin on full scale in the next winter, it would not be possible to complete the work before the next dry season, he said.

Lutfur said it took one and a half months to repair the breaches developed in September in the embankment at Gabura union last year.

He said of the embankment’s 377-kilometre area under his division, about 27 kilometres covering several unions of Shyamnagar upazila was completely destroyed while a 135-kilometre area of the dam was partially damaged.

“We need Tk 40 crore to repair the damaged embankments. We have estimated that around Tk 100 crore will be required for rehabilitation programme, protection from river erosion, reconstruction of the sluice gates and closures,” he said.

Lutfur said they have already sought for Tk 13 crore for the food for work programme.

Many inhabitants of Gabura, Padmapukur, Burigoalini, Munshiganj, Atulia and Ramzannagar unions under Shyamnagar upazila and several unions of Assasuni were seen repairing the small breaches in the embankment both voluntarily and under the food for work programme.

Sheikh Hazrat Ali, a resident of Gabura union, said if the embankment is not repaired immediately their remaining belongings will get washed away by strong tide during the full moon.

“We shall not be able to live on the embankment if it is not repaired soon,” he added.

Shafiul Azam Lenin, chairman of Gabura union, said it will be possible to repair the breaches covering an area of 21 kilometres within a week under the food for work programme.

But it would not be possible to repair the large ones without piling, he said.

Some inhabitants in the area blamed the shrimp farmers for the breaches in the embankment saying the dam got damaged at several points when water was pumped into their enclosures from the river.

Executive Engineer of WDB Division-2 AKM Mujibur Rahman Hawlader said around 3.9 kilometre area of the embankment in Assasuni upazila was washed away by tidal surge while another 98-kilometre area was partially damaged.

He said they have estimated that Tk 27.14 crore would be required for rehabilitation programme and another Tk 20.10 crore for protection from river erosion.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Satkhira Mohammad Abdus Samad told The Daily Star that they hope to complete repair of the small breaches within a week.

He also said the government has decided to repair the large breaches with the help of the army.

Asked about the fate of the affected people if the embankment is not repaired before the rains, he said, “We shall continue providing them with relief until they return home.”

“Many houses mostly the thatched ones were destroyed by tidal surge,” he said.

When asked whether they would help the survivors rebuild their houses, Samad said he has already requested the higher authorities to provide loans to the survivors.

Meanwhile, Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque told The Daily Star that they will start repair works of the damaged embankments on a temporary basis within 10 days.

But the permanent repair works will begin in October-November, he said.

An allocation of Tk 116 crore — Tk 41 crore in cash and 25,000 tonnes of rice — has been made for repairing the embankments immediately.

“We have instructed the authorities concerned to start the work across the country within 10 days,” he said.

The Army will also be involved in the work.

He said it will require around Tk 420 crore to complete the permanent repair works of the embankments expected to begin in October-November.

Razzaque said the affected people, who will do repair works, will be paid Tk 250 to Tk 300 each daily.

Chief lesson from Cyclone Aila

There is no alternative to building strong embankments

Editorial, The Daily Star, June 1, 2009

THE most important lesson which can be drawn from Cyclone Aila, which last week hit south-western Bangladesh, is that a comprehensive programme regarding the construction and maintenance of embankments needs to be put in place. It is an issue about which the inhabitants of cyclone-prone areas are acutely aware, for they themselves have been demanding that more than anything else it is strong embankments they need. In effect, what they have been saying is that if they have embankments to protect themselves, they can take care of everything else.

That is certainly a forceful argument. Cyclone Aila has patently demonstrated the afflictions that can result from weak embankments. In this past week, survivors of the disaster have suffered badly from the salinity which has not only stopped their sources of clean drinking water but has also damaged crops, cattle and homesteads. They would have been spared such an ordeal if purposefully built embankments had been there. As it is, following Sidr in November 2007, not much of repair work was done on the embankments and indeed hardly any new ones were built as a precaution against subsequent natural disasters. Besides, the embankments that were there (most of them have been damaged or washed away by Aila) were fragile because the materials used to construct them were not expected to withstand shocks. It is regrettable but true that embankments in Bangladesh have by and large been built of mud. Small wonder then that they will collapse in the face of a strong assault by the forces of nature. Again, in many instances the heights of the embankments did not conform to accepted standards or standards that reflected the realities in Bangladesh.

In light of the collapse of the embankments caused by Cyclone Aila, it becomes important that serious, meaningful steps be taken to repair the damage caused last week, raise the existing height of the embankments and where necessary build new ones. A special task force may be set up to study the present condition of the embankments, to take stock of them as it were, and follow it up by taking measures to construct more lasting embankments to deal with future calamities. As an additional measure towards securing the embankments, an overall, well-thought out plan for a green belt along the coastline ought to be put in place. The bottom line is simple: the future, when it comes to dealing with natural calamities, should not be a repeat of the past.

Woes prolong for damaged dam: people in Satkhira village work round the clock to repair it

Wasim Bin Habib and Abu Ahmed, from Satkhira, The Daily Star, May 31, 2009

Saline water rushes into villages of Gabura Union in Shyamnagar upazila in Satkhira yesterday through a breach in the embankment during high tide. Inset, people of Kurikaunia of Pratapnagar in Assasuni upazila themselves mend an embankment damaged by Aila to protect their homes in high tide.

Photo: Anisur Rahman/The Daily Star

Survivors of Cyclone Aila in Shyamnagar upazila, one of the worst-hit areas in Satkhira, have no choice but to fight for survival.

Some scared that the damaged embankment can give away at any point are already leaving the area in search of safer shelter.

Others are working round the clock to safeguard whatever little left spared by the cyclone and water.

A group of 30-35 men were busy yesterday trying to repair the destroyed embankment in Khalishabunia village under Gabura union parishad.

They pleaded with The Daily Star correspondents for help to repair the embankment.

“If the embankment is not repaired, our last belongings will be washed way, our children will die. Please do something,” pleaded a tearful Abdul Alim.

“Where can we go, there is no place remaining,” he cried.

Maksudul Sheikh, another villager is still in search of shelter.

“Repairing the embankment is very urgent, at least we can live on it then,” he said.

The embankment, though broken at many points, is already swarming with people who have sought shelter here. Some families are forced to take shelter in separate places because of the lack of space to be together.

“Everything has been washed away, our clothes, cooking pots — everything,” said the visibly helpless Maksudul.

Not a single house in the 20 villages under Gabura union — which once housed 37,000 people — has been spared. The embankment has been damaged at 31 points by the tidal surge. Most of the trees were uprooted and washed away.

Many inhabitants of Padmapukur, Burigowalini, Munshiganj, Atulia and Ramzannagar unions under Shyamnagar upazila and some unions of Asshashuni have started leaving the area in fear of being inundated by rising water levels.

At least six unions in the upazila were badly affected. The situation in Asshashuni is no better.

In Dumuria, Chalkbara, Shora-9, Shora-10 and other villages under Gabura upazila, the wrecked embankment is the only safe place for shelter.

Almost all the inhabitants have set up makeshift shacks on it. They are still reeling from the shock of the devastation. Many are sleeping under the open sky. Though they have received food in aid, there is an acute shortage of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.

Octogenarian Daud Ali Gazi came to Dumuria from Shora-9, losing everything he had built over generations.

Anowara Begum, a resident of Dumuria village in Gaburia union, summed it up saying, “No house, no water, this is a living hell.”

She walks all the way to Shora-9 village to collect drinking water from a pond there that has not been contained yet.

“We can’t even find a place or facility to cook food, how can we boil water?” she asked.

Meanwhile, diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases are spreading fast among the survivors.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz said almost all the houses in his village Shora-9 were washed away. The few remaining are submerged in waist-deep water.

In the meantime, hundreds of affected people have started moving elsewhere fearing another tidal surge and heavy rainfall. People fear that the temporarily repaired portions of the embankments will not hold for long.

With his family of 24 members, Sheikh Wajed Ali, 71, moved from Shora-10 village to his cousin’s in Parulia.

He said, “What should we do? We have no shelter, food and water here. Besides, the villages can go under water any moment.”

Cracks were found at many points of the embankment at Protapnagar union in Asshashuni upazila on Friday. The inhabitants of Gaburia union said they are repairing small breaches, as it is not possible to handle the large cracks in the embankment.

Salauddin Bappi, a local social worker, said the repairs on the embankments should be done under experts’ supervision.

Lutfur Rahman, executive engineer of Division-1 of Water Development Board (WDB), told The Daily Star that approximately 26.6-kilometre stretch of the embankment covering eight unions in Shyamnagar upazila was totally destroyed and a 134-km stretch was partially damaged.

“We have estimated over Tk 90 crore for repairing the damage, damage prevention and sluice gate. We have asked for a sanction of Tk 13 crore on emergency basis,” he added.

Executive Engineer of WDB Division-2 Mujibur Rahman Hawlader said around 3.5 km of the embankment in Asshashuni upazila was washed away and 98 km was partially damaged, of which a 21-km stretch is in dire straits.

The embankment may give away any moment, he added.

He said they have estimated a cost of Tk 26.74 lakh to rebuild the damaged embankment.

“We have also asked the government to sanction Tk 5.5 crore on an emergency basis to repair the damages in Asshashuni upazila.”

The Health Minister AFM Ruhul Haque has meanwhile said, “We will repair the damaged parts of embankments at any cost.”

He also said he had asked the Satkhira Deputy Commissioner to form a committee and take necessary measures for reconstructing the breached embankments by June.

Meanwhile, the health minister, Army Chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed, State Minister for Labour Monnujan Sufian and Khulna City Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque visited different Aila-hit villages in Shyamnagar.

Weak embankments fail to withstand tidal surge: experts

Shahidul Islam Chowdhury, NewAge, May 27 2009

Coastal embankments failed to withstand in the face of severe tidal surge accompanied by cyclone Aila that on Monday played havoc in the country’s southern districts causing heavy damages to life and property.
   

Experts and people in coastal area believe the embankments were jerry-built and weak at some places and hence they failed to withstand the pressure of the massive tidal surge that swept along the coastal belt.
   

These embankments should have been built, maintained and repaired with appropriate quality materials, they observed.

Besides, it is believed that people were not alerted in time for taking shelter well ahead of the storm and tidal surge to minimise the damages by the disaster.

Unofficial death counts from cyclone Aila that pounded the coastline on Monday reached over 127 until 8:00pm on Tuesday and local administrations say the figure might rise as more than 100 people were still missing.
   

‘The extent of damage to life and property was high as the tidal surge accompanied by cyclone Aila breached the weak coastal embankments at many places,’ Ainun Nishat, country director of the IUCN-The World Conservation Union, told New Age on Tuesday.
   

‘Tidal surge would not affect much if the embankments could withstand the pressure of the water,’ Nishat, a former professor of civil engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said. ‘Embankments are built for safety and security of the people and their property. But how to ensure safety if the embankments are not properly constructed and maintained ?’ He said shrimp farmers who want to get salty water for their hatcheries were also responsible for making the embankments weaker.
   

Professor Nishat however pointed out that rain, floods, cyclones and tidal surges are natural happenings in Bangladesh and ‘we must remain prepared to live with them.’

Professor Amanat Ullah Khan, director of the Centre for Disaster Research, Training and Management of the University of Dhaka, said the embankments failed to withstand the tidal surge. ‘Embankments are generally built to control flood. Are the coastal embankments really built to withstand tidal surge?’ he said. Prof Khan said the authorities concerned must constantly visualise and monitor the possible natural calamities and keep people informed to help them face the situation.
   

Sudhangsu Sekhor Roy, 55, of Kamarkhali in Dakop, a worst-hit Upazila in Khulna district, alleged the embankments, which were damaged by cyclone Sidr in 2007, were not properly repaired.
   

Sathi Bhai, a fisherman on Char Montaj, a remote island in Galachipa Upazila in Patuakhali district, said people on the island became stranded in water as tidal surge breached embankments that were built with sand clay.
   

The average height of Monday’s tidal surge was about four meters, according to official estimate.
   

Water Development Board authorities however claimed the tidal surge breached the embankments as waters crossed the infrastructures in almost all places.
   

‘Water level usually remain high during cyclones, specially higher when cyclones occurs during new-moon and full-moon,’ Water Development Board director general Abul Kalam Muhammad Azad told New Age. ‘There may be some weak stretches at few places. But such weaknesses cannot be overcome when sea waters surpass the infrastructures and this happened during cyclone Alia.’
   

Monday’s tidal surge caused severe breaches to coastal embankments in six districts: Satkhira, Khulna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Noakhali and Chittagong, he said.
   

Embankments were also damaged in Bagerhat, Barisal, Barguna, Pirojpur, Jhalakati, Laxmipur and Madaripur.
   

According to a rough estimate, these damages would cost taka 219 crore for repairing the embankments, WDB officials said.
   The Water Development Board has so far built 10,000 kilometres of embankments across the country.

Cyclone Aila death toll rises to 127

Thousands marooned without food, drinking water

A villager carries his belongings through flood waters in a Sathkhira village on Tuesday. — AFP photo

NewAge, May 27, 2009 

Rescuers have failed to reach many remote areas left battered by water surges whipped up by cyclone Aila as it ripped through the coastline into India on Monday, killing at least 127 people in Bangladesh.
   

Many others went missing, local officials and residents in the areas affected by the cyclone said on Tuesday.
The government, however, confirmed 91 deaths in 13 coastal districts, saying that the death toll could be rising as more deaths were reported by district administrations.
   

Relief materials were yet to reach the cyclone-hit people, who are still marooned without food and drinking water. The food and disaster management minister, Abdur Razzak, said the army had been called in for rescue and relief operation in the affected areas. Five navy vessels also reached the coastal areas to begin relief operation on Wednesday, the minister said at a briefing Tuesday evening.
   

Lives and property in the offshore islands and coastal areas were destroyed in Bangladesh as Aila crossed over Sagar Island into India through Rajshahi towards Dinajpur in Bangladesh.
   

Rescuers could not reach such offshore islands and remote areas on the mainland Bangladesh until Tuesday, said Abdur Razzak. ‘We tried to reach Dhal Char, an offshore island in Bhola, by helicopter, but failed to do so. Many other places still could not be reached because of rough weather,’ said the minister, who visited cyclone-hit Bhola, Patuakhali and Khulna.
   

Razzak said the damage was colossal and the government would hold an inter-ministerial meeting to assess the devastation. Reports reaching from coastal districts said many villages had still been inundated as water surges, influenced by the new moon, washed away embankments at more than 150 points along the coast.
   

The surges reaching high up to 13 feet also washed away thousands of homesteads. According to a government estimate, 470,000 families were affected by the cyclone and the surges.
   

Water remained stagnant till Tuesday afternoon and there was no sign of recession. Water was rather rising in places in Bhola, Noakhali and Barguna during high tide in the afternoon.
   

Some 509km stretches of embankments were either partially or completely damaged by the surges, said Water Development Board officials. Sources in the board in Barisal said 46.42km stretch of the coastal embankment was completely damaged and 363km stretch partially damaged by the surges. One hundred and two dam regulators were damaged completely and 51 partially in five districts of the division. The officials estimated the damage of embankment to be worth Tk 77.43 core.
   

Thousands of thatched, mud, and half-brick houses were fully damaged in the coastal districts. At least 50,000 houses — mud and half-brick — collapsed in Khulna alone. Officials in Patuakhali said 50,000 houses had been fully or partially damaged in the district.
   

New Age correspondents in the affected districts said thousands of people had taken shelter on the roads and highways under the open sky or in makeshift shanties. The people who had left home for cyclone shelters were yet to get back to their houses as areas still remained inundated.
   

Gaurnaga Sarkar, who works in Khulna judge’s court, said all the 30 houses of his extended family collapsed at Kamarkhola of Dacope. ‘All the houses of our family were washed away as water gushed in,’ he said.
   

People living elsewhere were rushing to the affected places to inquire about their families. Five ferryboats have been deployed in the river at Kamarkhola, but still people had to wait for more than an hour to cross the river.
   

Water surges wreaked havoc in Khulna and Satkhira and the administrations said more than a half of Khulna was still inundated. The deputy commissioner, NM Zeaul Alam, told New Age the entire Koyra and Dacope and a half of Paikgachha and Batiyaghata had been inundated. The administration was trying to remove stranded people to high land, he said.
   

Death toll in Khulna rose to 46, with 33 alone at Koyra. The Bedkashi union chairman, Shamsur Rahman, said 26 bodies were recovered in his union. The district administration, however, confirmed the death of 33 people.
   

In Satkhira, rescuers found 25 bodies at Shyamnagar, Debhata and Assassuni. Three bodies were recovered in Bagerhat. In Noakhali, the death toll rose to 20 on Tuesday. The death figure in Barisal is 9, in Bhola 13, and in Patuakhali 6.
   

The affected people in many areas said nobody from the government or any other organisations had yet reached them any relief materials even 24 hours after the cyclone.
   

Abdur Razzak of Baidyapara at Kalapara in Patuakhali said he had gone to cyclone shelter Monday morning and nobody had reached them anything till Tuesday afternoon.
   Kohinur Begum, who took shelter at the same place, said she had fed her family the dry food she had taken with her, but they had eaten all the food and she had nothing to feed her family. They also do not have any water to drink.
   

The disaster management minister visited different affected areas in Patuakhali and instructed the administration to arrange drinking water and food for the affected, especially the people who remained stranded indoors.
   

Patuakhali, Barguna, Satkhira and part of Khulna and Bagerhat are going without power as transmission lines in places have been snapped, said power officials in Patuakhali. They said it would be difficult to restore power before Thursday.
   

Shrimp enclosures in Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barguna and Patuakhali have been washed away and shrimp farmers said they might not afford the losses.
   

Restriction on the plying of vessels less than 65 feet in length remained in force the south. The Barisal port officer, Rafikul Islam, said they allowed large vessels to ply the Dhaka-Barisal route. Ferry operation in the Barisal region resumed on a limited scale.
   

The correspondent in Patuakhali said 427km stretch of the coastal embankment was damaged, in which 409 villages of the district were inundated and water could not recede as most sluice gates were out of order. When cyclone Sidr struck the south on November 15, 2007, 663km stretch of the embankment was damaged and only 180km stretch was repaired.
   

Water Development Board executive engineer in Patuakhali Zahirul Islam said after Sidr they had sough funds for repairs to the embankment, but only 180km could be repaired with the money sanctioned. He said he would seek more funds from higher authorities for repairs to the damaged stretches of the embankment.
   

Cyclone Aila, weakening into a thunderstorm, swept over Jaipurhat where at least 2000 non-brick and tin-roofed houses were totally or partially damaged. Trees were blown over and most of the cropland was affected on Monday. Power supply in the district remained suspended for Monday. About 50 people were injured in the district.
   

In Rangpur, one Ratan Miah died in Monday’s storm as a wall caved in on him at Kamalkachhna in the town.
   

The correspondent in Kushtia said the storm damaged crops and property. Power supply had been suspended for 18–48 hours in places of the district as the storm damaged transmission lines.

Embankment collapse floods Satkhira villages

The Daily Star, March 1, 2009

Over 3000 people were marooned as six villages in Gabura union under Shyamnagar upazila adjacent to the Sundarbans were flooded following collapse of a damaged embankment at Khalsebunia point on Kabodak River early yesterday.

Following collapse of the 350 feet embankment, the sluice gate was also washed away due to heavy pressure of water from the river during the high tide.

Over 500 bighas of crops were also inundated in the area and over 120 shrimp enclosures were washed away as water entered in the shrimp enclosures collapsing the sluice gate, said locals.

The affected villages are Chakbara, Khalsebunia, Gabura, Madhya Khalsebunia and two other adjoining villages in Gabura union.

The marooned people are preparing to take shelter on the nearby high lands.

Acute scarcity of safe drinking water is persisting in the affected areas as most of the tube-wells have gone under water, sources said.

Local people were working there to reconstruct the collapsed embankment but the embankments collapsed by heavy pressure due to violent tide.

Water Development Board (WDB) failed to take measures to reconstruct the damaged embankment even after repeated appeals by local people, said shrimp farmers Zahed Ali Mollah and Monsur Ali Biswas of village Khalsebunia and Majibar Rahman Mollah of village Gabura.

Local people are trying to reconstruct the damaged embankment, they said.

Contacted, Sub-Assistant Engineer Bikash Kumar Sarkar of the Water Development Board said they reconstructed the damaged embankment but it collapsed again after half an hour.

They will reconstruct the damaged embankment as soon as possible, he said.

Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Dilip Kumar Banik said local people under the initiative of UP leaders are trying to reconstruct the damaged embankment.

He said he asked the local WDB officials to take measures as early as possible.