Many helpless families, all too frequently battered by destructive cyclones, subsequent tidal surges and constant river erosion, are abandoning their ancestral homes and livelihoods and increasing the number of environmental refugees in the country.
The country has suffered a financial loss of about Tk 1,020 crore and a production loss of crops of nearly 3.75 lakh tonnes as over 2.50 lakh hectares of land had been submerged due to the recent devastating cyclone Aila.
The Department of Agricultural Extension disclosed this Wednesday after conducting a final assessment on the extent of damage to the crops.
People in the remote areas of the south and south-eastern districts, inundated by tidal surges associated with cyclone Aila on May 25, are still facing acute crisis of drinking water, food and medicine amid an alarming spread of water borne diseases.
Environmentalists on Sunday called on the government to form a high-powered committee to take effective measures to save the rivers of the country after identifying their problems.
They made the call while addressing a briefing organised by Paribesh Banchao Andolan in association with Janauddyog, Unyanadhara Trust and CLNB at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
Green activists on Friday formed a human chain demanding that the government should immediately stop filling of a large area on Banani-Mohakhali Lake in Dhaka meant for building 3,360 flats.
The Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan organised the programme in front of the National Museum in the city to protest at the government
No relief materials reached many remote areas in the south and south-west left battered by tidal surges whipped up by cyclone Aila even three days after the inundation in which thousands of people were marooned without food and drinking water.
The unofficial death toll rose to 178. The disaster management ministry on Thursday confirmed the death of 147 people.
Almost all the public toilets, run by the Dhaka City Corporation, are barely usable as they remain unhygienic due to lack of regular maintenance.
The DCC runs only 48 public toilets in the city, home to about 140 million people, according to official statistics.
