After two weeks of persistent rainfall coupled with overtopping rivers that resulted in flooding, some residents in Regions Five and Six are beginning to experience some amount of relief.
This was noted on Friday last after a follow-up flood assessment exercise was conducted by Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall; and Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat.
Before that exercise, Minister Mustapha visited most of the affected areas in both regions and had put several measures in place to assist with bringing relief.
During his engagement with residents, Minister Mustapha said, “Here in Bangladesh like other areas, the water has receded to some extent after a number of interventions were made. We have been doing some amount of empoldering in various communities and pumping water out on a 24-hour basis. We’ve mobilized several machines and placed them at strategic points in these communities.”
The official added, “Hopefully, we can complete those exercises and within another two days or so, residents should have more relief. We are hoping the weather holds.”
Minister Mustapha said that the main focus of the government was to ensure that those affected remain safe and have enough food to feed their families. He also said that while preliminary assessments are being conducted to determine the number of crops and livestock that were destroyed as a result of the flooding, a more detailed assessment will be done once things return to some level of normalcy.
Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall said resources are currently geared towards providing emergency support for those who are severely affected.
So far, several pumps have been dispatched to assist with draining the lands in all of the affected areas. Additional excavators have also been mobilized to assist with clearing clogged drains and canals, as well as empoldering areas and sealing breaches in some dams.
Some of the areas visited during the exercise were De Hoop, Ithaca, Rosignol, Blairmont, Belvidere, Babu John, Bangladesh, and Port Mourant. Minister Mustapha will also be conducting flood assessments in other regions over the next few days.
