The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The government has taken an initiative to build one thousand more cyclone shelters to protect the life and property of people living in the coastal areas, officials said.

An inter- ministerial meeting was held yesterday in this connection at the disaster management ministry committee room with food and disaster management secretary Dr Mohammad Ayub Mia.

The meeting was attended by officials from the education, primary and mass education, public works, fisheries and livestock, meteorological department, red crescent society and disaster management bureau.

The meeting was informed that in 1992 a committee headed by Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury recommended for construction of 3500 cyclone shelters in the coastal areas. Two thousand cyclone shelters were built following the recommendation.

The food and disaster management secretary told BSS that only 1800 cyclone shelters out of the 2000 remain in good condition and the rest have either disappeared due to river erosion or have been damaged.

He said after detailed discussions at the meeting two committees were formed for the construction of new cyclone shelters.

A technical committee headed by the chief engineer of the public works ministry and another committee on site selection, headed by Abdul Bari Khan, additional secretary of the food and disaster management ministry have been formed. The committees will submit their reports by December.

Dr Ayub Mia further said the food and disaster management ministry has sent a project proposal for construction of 500 cyclone shelters to the planning commission for it's approval. Primary and mass education ministry will also construct 500 cyclone shelters . All the cyclone shelters will have the same design, he added.

He further said the local government engineering department and some NGOs have expressed their interest to build some cyclone shelters. The number of which would be known soon, the secretary added.