RANGPUR, July 22, 2019 (BSS) – The government continues conducting massive relief activities for over 20.52-lakh flood-hit people to mitigate their sufferings in seven flood-affected northern districts in the Brahmaputra basin.
The district administration officials said the government has allocated 5,250 tonnes of rice, Taka 83.50 lakh, 26,000 packets of dry foods and 3,000 tents for distribution among flood-hit people of Rangpur, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogra and Sirajganj districts.
Meanwhile, the district administrations have already allocated 3,295 tonnes of rice, Taka 59.50 lakh and 25,000 packets of dry foods and those are being distributed among flood and erosion-hit people.
The seven district administrations still have reserve of 1,955 tonnes of rice, Taka 24 lakh and 1,000 packets of dry foods for distribution among flood-affected people of these districts where flood situation continues improving in recent days.
According to the District Relief and Rehabilitation Officers (DRRO) concerned, over 20.52 lakh people have been affected by current deluge in these seven northern districts where 26 people drowned and 9,604 houses were devoured to riverbeds so far.
DRRO of Rangpur ATM Akhteruzzaman said the government has allocated 700 tonnes of rice and Taka 13 lakh, and of them, 110 tonnes of rice and Taka three lakh were distributed among 67,000 flood-affected people of three upazilas.
Nilphamari DRRO SA Hayat said the government has allocated 450 tonnes of rice and Taka 7.50 lakh, and of them, 170 tonnes of rice and Taka 2.50 lakh were distributed among 18,000 flood-hit people of the district. The government has allocated 450 tonnes of rice and Taka 7.50 lakh for distribution among 75,000 flood-affected people of five upazilas in Lalmonirhat.
“The district administration already distributed 150 tonnes of rice and Taka 2.50 lakh among the flood-affected people of the district,” said DRRO of Lalmonirhat Ali Haider.
Deputy Commissioner of Kurigram Sultana Pervin said the government has allocated 1,000 tonnes of rice, Taka 15 lakh and other relief goods for distribution among eight lakh flood-hit people of the district.
“We have already distributed 800 tonnes of rice, Taka 13.50 lakh, 7,000 packets of dry foods and 450 tents allocated by the government among flood-affected people.
We have a stock of 200 tonnes of rice and Taka 1.50 lakh now,” said Sultana. “The World Food Programme (WFP) also distributed 171 tonnes of nutritious biscuits with one box containing 25 kilogram biscuits among each of the 6,840 flood-hit families of Kurigram,” she said.
Besides, WFP and Bangladesh Res Crescent Society distributed over Taka 1.98 crore among 4,415 flood-hit families with Taka 4,500 each and Taka 22.50 lakh among 500 families with Taka 4,500 each respectively in the district.
“In addition to this, ASA, an NGO, distributed dry foods worth Taka two-lakh among flood-affected people of Kurigram,” Sultana added.
In Gaibandha, the government has allocated 1,150 tonnes of rice, Taka 20.50 lakh, 6,000 packets of dry foods and 500 tents for distribution among 5.82-lakh flood-hit people of the district.
The district administration already distributed 1,070 tonnes rice, Taka 18.50 lakh and 6,000 packets of dry foods among flood-hit people of four upazilas in Gaibandha.
In Bagura, the government has allocated 800 tonnes of rice, Taka 12 lakh, 6,000 packets of dry foods and 500 tents and those are being distributed among 2.09 lakh flood-hit people of 179 villages in three upazilas in the district.
“We have a stock of 183 tonnes of rice and Taka 50,000 now,” DRRO of Bagura Azhar Ali Mandal told BSS today.
Talking to BSS, DRRO of Sirajganj Abdur Rahim said the government has allocated 700 tonnes of rice, Taka eight lakh, 4,000 packets of dry foods and 500 tents for over three lakh flood-hit people of five upazilas in the district.
“The district administration already distributed 378 tonnes of rice, Taka eight lakh and 4,000 packets of dry foods till today among the affected people in the district,” Rahim added.