A move is underway to build some 550 cyclone shelters to help save the lives of the people of nine coastal districts and their property from natural disasters, reports UNB.
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under the Ministry of LGRD has initiated the move to undertake a project titled ‘Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters (2nd Phase)’, which is now at the Planning Commission for its consideration.
A meeting of the pre-evaluation committee (PEC) on the proposed project was held on October 19, 2014, with Planning Commission member of the Agriculture, Water Resource and Rural Institution Division Mohammad Shofiqul Azam in the chair. At the meeting, the Planning Commission made some recommendations to fine tune the project.
Talking to UNB, a Planning Commission official said the proposed cost of the project is Tk 29.09 billion of which Tk 132.8 million will come from the national exchequer while the rest is expected to come from the World Bank as project assistance.
Some 74 upazilas of nine coastal districts have been selected as the project areas likely to be implemented from January 2015 to December 2021.
The proposed districts to be covered under the project are Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Feni, Laxmipur and Noakhali.
The official said the project also aims to create opportunities for
operating primary and other educational activities at the cyclone shelters alongside creating short-term employment scope and operating other social and government programmes like EPI as well as creating facilities for the coastal community through NGO training.
Apart from the construction of the 550 new cyclone shelters, the official said that under the project, there will be development of the existing 450 cyclone shelters, construction or reconstruction of some 550 km cyclone shelters connecting roads alongside the construction or reconstruction of some 500 metre bridges and culverts on the connecting roads to the cyclone shelters.
Talking to the news agency, Planning Commission member Shofiqul Azam said that during the PEC meeting, various aspects of the proposed project were discussed with some recommendations and observations.
