Govt to construct 372 cyclone, flood shelters: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government would construct 372 cyclone and flood shelters with Tk 888 crore in flood and cyclone-prone areas in the country.

"We have constructed 100 cyclone shelter centres with Tk 194 crore and 100 flood shelter centres with Tk 48 crore," she said, while replying to a question from treasury bench member Momtaj Begum in the parliament yesterday.

The prime minister informed the House that Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) is a big success of the Awami League government, adding, "Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had launched the CPP in 1972 for protecting people of the costal belts from cyclone."

She said the government has undertaken a project to construct 216 cyclone shelters with Tk 688 crore, while construction of 156 flood shelters with Tk 200 crore is going on.

Hasina informed the House that now the country has 55,000 CPP volunteers and they are equipped with necessary training and equipment. They (CPP volunteers) have been kept ready to carry out campaigns during any cyclone and other natural disasters, she added.

She said 3,751 cyclone shelters have been constructed in cyclone-prone areas earlier in collaboration with various development agencies.

"We shifted 11 lakh vulnerable people to cyclone shelter centres within a night during the cyclone Mohasen," mentioned the prime minister.

She said the government installed 35 megaphone sirens in 35 upazilas for broadcasting cyclone warnings to the costal people. The government also procured 12 pickups and six water ambulances for transporting relief goods and providing healthcare services to affected people quickly, said Hasina.

The government also procured 16 boats, including 12 small ones for rescue operations, for the people vulnerable to natural disasters, she informed the House.