Floods triggered by torrential rains in the hilly district of Bandarban killed 11 people and caused damage to property and other resources worth Tk 400.98 crore earlier this month, an official said on Thursday.
The casualties happened between August 6 and 9 in the district where another 56 people were also injured during the disaster. One person has so far remained missing.
Bandarban Deputy Commissioner Shah Mojahid Uddin presented the information on losses in a view exchange meeting in the district administration office with journalists about the recent flood situation in the district and the way to overcome it on Thursday, 20 days after the floods
He said 11 people died and 30, 220 people took refuge at 207 shelters in the district.
The official said the floods damaged some 10, 660 houses, 7, 999 hectares of croplands, seed beds while 9, 509 cattle were affected.
About 89 kilometres of electricity supply line, 11 kilometres of road, 93 bridges and culverts and 60 religious and 157 educational institutions were also damaged.
The DC said that humanitarian assistance including rice, dry foods, mineral water and cash were provided to the flood-affected people across the district. Members from Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh worked to rescue people and mitigate their sufferings.
Shah Mojahid Uddin said the suffering of people increased as there was no electricity or mobile network during the flood. Mainly due to a lack of communication, it was not possible to know instantly what happened where and who needed what during the flood. In some places, damaged roads stopped the road communication system.
The deputy commissioner highlighted some plans to deal with the future flood situation and said if the government building is constructed in the future, plans are being made to build it at a higher place considering the flood situation.
Plans are also being taken on how to de-occupy the drains. Every time there is heavy rain, power substations get submerged in water and master planning is being done for these too. Apart from this, plans are being made on how to strengthen the rescue teams like fire rescuers and civil defence.
Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Directorate MM Shah Newaz, LGED Executive Engineer Ziaul Islam Majumder, Water Development Board Executive Engineer Arup Chakraborty and Power Development Board Executive Engineer Syed Amir Hossain were present at the meeting.
Earlier this month, a week of continuous rain caused flooding in Bandarban, which has not occurred in living memory. After the second week, the water receded and life started to return to normal.
