DHAKA, May 9, 2019 (BSS) – Cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ caused a loss of about Taka 536.61 crore as it damaged homesteads, roads, crops, coastal embankments and fish firms across the country on May 4.
“Homesteads worth Taka 78.14 crore were damaged due to ‘Fani’ while embankments worth Taka 251 crore, fish firms worth Taka 2.84 crore, mango orchards worth Taka 5 crore and crops of Taka 38 crore were destroyed during the cyclone,” Disaster and Relief Secretary Md Shah Kamal said.
The secretary briefed reporters after a meeting of Inter Ministerial Disaster Management Coordination Committee at the conference room of Disaster Management and Relief Ministry at the Secretariat here today.
Chaired by State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Enamur Rahman, the meeting was attended, among others, by Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Disaster Management and Relief Ministry Captain (Retd) AB Tajul Islam, Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Haque Shamim and Director of Meteorological Department Shamsuddin Ahmed.
In the briefing, Dr Enam said the cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ caused a little loss to lives and properties as the government took appropriate precautionary measures to face the disaster.
About 16,40,417 people from the country’s coastal areas were taken to the cyclone shelter centers before the storm hit the country on May 4, he said.
The storm ‘Fani’, however, claimed five lives and injured 63 people across the country, Dr Enam said, adding that of the deceased, one died in Bhola, one in Noakhali, one in Laxmipur and two in Barguna.
A total of 2363 homesteads were totally damaged while 18,670 were partially destroyed by the cyclone, he said, adding 63,063 acres of crop land were affected by the storm while crops on 1804 acres of land were damaged.
About 21.95 kilometers of embankment of Water Development Board were damaged and 36 villages were inundated during the ‘Fani’, the state minister said.
However, about 14,050 metric tonnes of rice, Taka 3.63 crore in cash, 41,000 packets of dry food, 4,000 bundles of iron shed and Taka 1.20-crore aid for building houses were distributed in different districts across the country by May 6, he added.