Govt spending Tk 3,280cr to protect coastal areas: state minister

The government is constructing 139 polders in the coastal belt to protect the areas from tidal surges and floods, State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque said yesterday.

Constructing the polders will cost Tk 3,280 crore.  The development plan will be implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank, Farooque told reporters after inaugurating tree plantation campaign in Lamchhari of Charbariar in Barishal Sadar upazila. 

He said the construction work of 10 polders have already started in the first phase. Some 39 polders will be constructed in the next five years and the remaining ones in phases, he said. 

Once the construction is complete, damage caused by floods and tidal surges will be reduced and coastal people will benefit, he said.

 Later, Farooque -- on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina -- distributed relief items among flood-victims at Palashpur in Barishal city, said a press release.