15 more deer carcasses
recovered from
Sundarbans
BAGERHAT, May 31 (UNB): Members of the Forest Department recovered 15 more carcasses of deer from different areas of Sundarbans on Friday.
With this, 111 dead deer were recovered from the Sundarbans in four days, said Mihir Kumar Doe, conservator of forests for the Khulna region.
Besides, four wild bears and one python were recovered from several areas including Kotka, Kochikhali, Karamjal, Pakhi Char, Dimar Char, Shelar Char and Narikel Baria till Friday afternoon, indicating a great loss to wildlife.
The Forest Department also rescued 18 deer in critical condition. After giving first aid, they were released into the forest.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department has begun assessing the extent of the destruction caused by Cyclone Remal.
Mihir Kumar Doe said that the Sundarbans faced an unprecedented situation this time after the cyclone.
"Forest department members are still conducting a search in the forest. The search will be completed within days. After that the chance of finding a wildlife carcass is very low," he added.
Chief Conservator of Forests Amir Hossain Chowdhury said that Khulna Region Conservator of Forests Mihir Kumar Doe and Divisional Forest Officers of Sundarban East and West Divisions have been instructed to list the damage to wild animals and forest plants on the ground.
After getting the list, he added that the extent of the damage would be known.
Jhalakathi's agriculture, fisheries suffer losses
of Tk 841.7m
JHALAKATHI, May 31 (UNB):Crops and fish worth around Tk 841.7 (84.17 crore) were damaged in Jhalakathi district by cyclone Remal that hit Bangladesh on May 26.
Of them, the agricultural sector incurred losses of Tk 707.9 million while the fisheries sector Tk 133.7 million.
Hundreds of farmers and fishermen in the district have been badly affected as the cyclone caused water levels to rise by 6 to 7 feet above the normal tide levels, which lasted for 6 to 7 hours, resulting in an excessive damage.
Monirul Islam, deputy director of district Department of Agricultural Extension, said Aush seedbeds, planted Aush paddy, peanuts, sesame, chili, summer vegetables, turmeric, papaya, banana orchards and betel leaf fields were damaged.
Around 1,162 hectares of vegetables, 2,019 hectares of Aush paddy, 406 hectares of seedbeds, 64 hectares of betel leaf farms, 185 hectares of banana orchards and 65 hectares of papaya lands were badly damaged by the storm, he said.
District Fisheries Officer Rabiul Islam said 519.67 tonnes of fish and 6.5 million spawns were washed away from 329 fish enclosures in the four upazilas of the district during cyclone Remal.
He also said that spawn worth Tk 1.28 crore was washed away and infrastructures worth Tk 89.50 lakh were destroyed.
Villages still under water in Khulna's three upazilas
KHULNA, May 31 (UNB): Four days after the cyclone Remal's strike, several villages in coastal district of Khulna's Koyra, Dakop and Paikgasa upazilas remain underwater, causing immense suffering to residents and damages of valuables.
Though efforts to repair the broken embankments have been ongoing for three days with the Water Development Board (WDB) and locals, temporary embankments are repeatedly breached by the tides, flooding surrounding areas.
WDB Officials and locals said the cyclone Remal caused breaches at eight points in the embankments across the three upazilas, resulting in the flooding of villages, fish enclosures and agricultural land.
Although repairs have been completed at five points, water continues to enter through the broken embankments at Dashhalia in Maharajpur Union, Dakshin Kaminibasia in Tiladanga Union under Dakop, and Perikhali village in Deluti Union of Paikgasa upazila.
Visiting the cyclone-hit areas, the news's Khulna correspondent noticed that efforts to repair the embankment at Dakshin Kaminibasia began on Thursday morning.
Despite completing around 60 per cent of the repair work, the rising tide caused the temporary embankment to collapse, flooding 20 to 22 villages in Tiladanga and Pankhali unions.
Similarly, on Wednesday morning, over 200 people began repairing a broken dam in Dashhalia village of Koyra. Upon completing 80 percent of the work by noon it again got broken under the pressure of the full tide around 1:45pm, submerging hundreds of homes.
Local Nurul Islam, who participated in the repair work in Dashhalia village, blamed the WDB for their failure to provide necessary materials including sand-filled geo-bags while the locals were repairing.