UNB, Dhaka :
Stating that many people going through untold sufferings in cyclone Yaas-affected 27 coastal upazilas, BNP on Sunday urged the government to distribute necessary relief materials among them immediately.
Besides, the party demanded reconstruction of embankments, houses, roads and educational institutions damaged by the cyclone and tidal surge in the coastal areas.
In a statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the low-lying areas in 27 coastal upazilas in Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Barishal, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola, Noakhali and Laxmipur districts were flooded as the weak dams were damaged by the Cyclone Yaas.
“Houses, croplands, export-oriented fish resources, educational institutions and roads were severely damaged, putting the lives and livelihoods of lakhs of people in various coastal areas at stake,” he said.
The BNP leader said many people in those areas have become unemployed, losing their means of income. “People are now passing through an indescribable miserable life there due to the negligence and indecision of the government.”
He said people have been infected with various diseases because of the acute shortage of food and pure drinking water. “People are starving there for lack of money and food. But the government is as indifferent as ever to ease the suffering of the people of these regions, which is very condemnable and heart touching.”
Fakhrul said the government has not yet started emergency relief operations in the coastal areas. “The government has repeatedly been assuring the people, affected by the cyclone Aila, Amphan and other devastating ones in the last one decade, of taking measures to construct sustainable embankments and provide jobs to the unemployed people in the coastal areas. “But it has no reflection in practice.”
He said the ruling party leaders have only ‘indulged in ‘plundering’ public money in the name of construction and reconstruction of dams.
The BNP leader said people in the Yaas-hit coastal areas have become helpless, upset and angry, losing their valuables and employment scopes.
“The sad fact is that neither any high-ranking government representative nor any official from the local administration has yet visited the affected areas, let alone starting the initial relief operations. The government has no initiative to alleviate the miseries of the people as it’s not elected by them.”
The BNP secretary general urged the government to take proper steps to supply emergency food, pure drinking water and medicine to the cyclone-affected areas and provide jobs to the unemployed people.
He also demanded the construction of sustainable embankments in the coastal areas to save the lives and property of people and protect the biodiversity.
