The New Nation - Internet Edition

Barisal Correspondent

US military helicopters and Bangladesh Air Force planes yesterday dropped food, water and medicine to tens of thousands of people along the country's devastated coast.

Though the relief supplies and aid pledges have poured into the country from around the globe, it has been slow in reaching the survivors, partly because many of them are in remote areas.

However, things are getting better slowly.

The Naval chief said relief reached to 95 per cent of the affected areas and the rest 5 per cent would get it very soon.

Naval Chief Vice Admiral Sarwar Zahan Nizam said that relief goods, including food, clothes and drinking water have been reached up to 95 of the affected areas and peoples in the rest 5 per cent of areas would be covered very soon.

In a briefing at the Central Relief Coordination Centre at Barisal Airport the Navy chief further said the government succeeded to supply sufficient food to the affected people within two weeks after the cyclone Sidr.

'Now we're in urgent need of winter clothes, blankets as temperature is dropping in the affected areas and requests have already been made seeking those items,' he said.

However, the threats of diarrhoea outbreak now looms in the cyclone-hit areas as patients have been receiving intravenous saline fluid in Barguna, Patuakhali and Bagerhat districts. Health officials report just over 300 diarrhoea cases, but no reported deaths.

"Waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, typhoid, dysentery, and acute respiratory tract infections like pneumonia are common after natural disasters like floods and cyclones," Mohammad Abdul Baset, health director of Barisal Division, told reporters, adding that children were more susceptible to diarrhoeal attack than adults.

"There is enough supply of oral re-hydration saline, intravenous fluids, water purifying tablets, antibiotics and safe drinking water," he said.

"It has not taken a severe shape," an army doctor working with a medical relief team in Morelganj of Bagerhat said, stressing preventive efforts were now under way.

Meanwhile, the military and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were continuing their efforts to supply WPT and bottled water to those affected to meet the rising demand.

"There are not many diarrhoeal patients at the moment, although experts are expecting probable outbreaks in the coming days," A. H. Taufique Ahmed, UNICEF's divisional officer for Barisal, told IRIN, citing a number of risk factors.

Many water points like tube wells, ponds and dug-wells in the affected areas have been fully or partially destroyed, while rotten carcasses of animals and fish have contaminated many of the ponds where people draw their water.

"The entire water system in the region has been polluted with pathogens," Ahmed said, adding, however, that there was no need for immediate worry.

"The government has enough buffer stock of oral re-hydration salts, intravenous fluid, water purifying tablets and medicine in stock," he assured.

"We will continue to provide more support," said Geeta Pasi, Charge d' Affaires at the US Embassy in Dhaka yesterday.

The United States, which has already provided more than US$14.4 million in emergency funds, handed out water purification treatment units, four 10,000-liter water storage units, 2,400 jerry cans and 10,000 blankets in battered southwestern Bangladesh.

Helicopters from the USS Kearsarge, anchored off the Bangladesh coast, airlifted the goods from Zia International Airport to Barisal for distribution among survivors in Patuakhali, Bagerhat and other badly affected areas, Pasi said.

Denise Rollins, Mission Director of the USAID, said they were working with the Bangladesh government to tackle any possible food crisis.

"Food is a major issue. We and other donors are thinking about how we can respond to the government's appeal," Rollins said at the airport, where officials were gathered to distribute the goods.

The government asked foreign donors on Tuesday for 500,000 tons of rice to prevent possible food shortages after Cyclone Sidr damaged large areas of rice fields.

More than 600 survivors are suffering from sicknesses such as diarrhea from drinking contaminated water, and respiratory problems and fevers from exposure, a Health Ministry disease control room said.

M. Ayub Miah, Secretary to the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, welcomed the US assistance.

"We are happy that we are getting a positive response," he said.

The British government is airlifting 43,000 blankets and 24,000 jerry cans from Abu Dhabi, its Department for International Development said.

Separately, UNICEF is planning about 400 daycare centers for homeless children in the devastated region in coming weeks, it said.

The agency plans to supply blended food for about 338,000 children under five years and for 123,500 pregnant women, it said in a statement.

About 600,000 children under five have been affected by the cyclone, UNICEF said.

The Education Ministry said yesterday that it would allocate extra funds to local authorities to buy books and rebuild schools destroyed by the cyclone.

"We plan to restart education activities on a full scale in the cyclone-affected areas within a month," Education Secretary Momtajul Islam said in a statement. The school year usually starts in January across the country.

Meanwhile, some 2,000 members of Navy, Air Force and other defense forces with thirty ships are engaged in relief operations among the cyclone victims and they have been going to remote and isolated areas with helps for the distressed peoples, the Navy chief said.

Rehabilitation in economic sectors would take some more time as affected people are now busy with reconstruction and repair of destroyed and damaged houses. It would become normal within the next two weeks, he hoped.

Commodore Imam, deputy naval chief, Commodore Tauhiduzzaman, commander of Khulna naval base, Brig General Rashiduzzaman were present during the briefing.

On the other hand, Communications Adviser Major General MA Matin (Retd), who is in charge of overall relief coordination, yesterday called upon journalists to project any irregularity in relief distribution and rehabilitation activities in the cyclone affected areas.

He was briefing newsmen at the Central Relief Coordination Centre at Barisal Airport yesterday.

The Adviser also called upon the media to project the areas where affected peoples were yet to get relief goods.

Expressing his happiness about the ongoing relief and rehabilitation activities, Matin said overall situation was quickly improving and food, cloth, drinking water, medicine were sent and distributed among almost all the affected people. Roads were quickly being repaired, and helicopters and ships were being used to reach areas which are not reachable by other means of communication.

The Adviser had visited Rangabali, Partharghata, Char Hosnabad, and Chargara to supervise relief distributions.

GOC of 55 Division of the Bangladesh Army Major General Rafiqul Islam, who was also present at the briefing, said that measures are being taken for quick restoration of electricity supplies in the Sidr affected areas.

Meanwhile, cyclone-affected people in Andhar Manik, an isolated union of Mehendiganj upazila in Barisal district and on the bank of Andhar Manik river, received relief after two weeks although it was severely affected by the Sidr.

Abdur Rahman, chairman of Andhar Manik union parishad, said, "Since we the peoples of Andhar Manik (jewels of darkness) and live in Andhar (darkness), no government or non-government organisations reached us with any kind of help in the last two weeks.'

'Only 25 pieces of blankets, 10 tons rice under VGF and 9 tons under GR scheme reached to our area on Wednesday, two weeks after the destruction of Sidr and we will distribute it today (Thursday),' he said.

"None died in Andhar Manik, but many people were injured, and trees and plants were totally destroyed by the cyclone in this union."

Most of the Aman paddy and winter crops, 725 houses, 98 banana and 75 betel leaf plantations, 18 educational and religious institutions, were completely destroyed. Some 440 domestic animals were killed and total damages exceeded more than Tk 10 crore.

About 4000 peoples, who lived in destroyed houses, are still living under open sky as no help for construction of the destroyed houses yet been provided and road communications and power supplies are yet to be restored, he added.

Abdul Huq, district relief and rehabilitation officer of Barisal, said they have no data about the damages or destructions in Andhar Manik union as it is missing from the description of Mehendiganj upazila administration in the last two weeks. Because of that relief operations in that area could not be started.