Recommendation to give cash instead of rice to disaster affected areas

Houses destroyed by uprooted trees due to cyclone

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Disaster Management and Relief Ministry has recommended allocation of money instead of rice to deal with the damage in areas affected by natural calamities. This recommendation was made in the committee meeting held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhawan today.

According to the sources of the meeting, the ministry presented the picture of the damage caused by Cyclone Sitrang in the meeting. They said that 676 unions of 49 upazilas of the country were affected by this cyclone. Crops of 6 thousand 919 hectares of land were damaged. Details of the total financial losses of nine districts are available till November 7 in Bagerhat, Khulna, Narail, Pirojpur, Satkhira, Munshiganj, Brahmanbaria, Feni and Jhalkathi districts. A total loss of Tk 110 crore has been incurred in these 9 districts due to the cyclone.

In the meeting, it was informed that 8 people were murdered, 25 were kidnapped, 21 were trafficked and 6 were raped in the Rohingya camp last October. Apart from this, there were three robberies. 51 regular cases were filed against 162 persons in that month. Out of which 30 people have been accused in the drug case. Apart from this, 86 cases have been filed in 34 raids of mobile courts and fines of Tk 1 lakh 29 thousand 400 have been recovered and 50 people have been sentenced to imprisonment for various terms. 

Three battalions of APBN are working to maintain law and order situation in the Rohingya camp.

At the end of the meeting, a circular from the Parliament Secretariat said, in addition to raising awareness to protect farmers from lightning, it was recommended that the ministry take necessary steps and keep a reserve fund to deal with any emergency situation caused by natural disasters.

Chairman of the committee, AB Tajul Islam, chaired the meeting. Aftab Uddin Sarkar, Mir Mostaq Ahmed, Jewel Areng and Masud Uddin Chowdhury participated.

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