The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The European Union (EU) has expressed its concern over the slow repair work of coastal embankments destroyed by cyclone Aila.

It is essential to repair the 700 kilometres embankments completely by the end of March this year, it said.

Thousands of people, displaced by Aila, have been living in makeshift shelters for the last ten months with risks, Dr Stefan Frowein, Head of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh said in a statement He said that if the embankments were not repaired urgently, the humanitarian consequences would be

catastrophic. Many families have already been displaced since Aila has struck forcing them to lose their homes and livelihoods.

Cyclone Aila caused devastation in hundreds of villages, exacerbated by the heavy monsoon rains that flooded agricultural and shrimp-farm lands. The tidal waves salinated land waters sources that might take years to recover. The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) has allocated 69 million to help provide the people worst affected with food, drinking water, and access to sanitation, temporary shelter and assistance with income generating activities.