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Published : 06 Oct 2024, 06:17 PM
The 11 districts in the south of Bangladesh saw at least Tk 144.21 billion in damage from the flooding in August, according to estimates by the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
The amount in damages is equivalent to 1.81 percent of the 2024-25 budget, according to the private research organisation.
A total of 4.6 million people in these districts were affected by the disaster, the CPD said at a press conference highlighting the situation at its offices in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on Sunday.
Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Feni, Khagrachhari, Cox's Bazar, Cumilla, Noakhali, Chattogram, Lakshmipur and Brahmanbaria were hit by unprecedented floods in mid-August due to heavy rain and torrential upstream runoff.
Fahmida Khatun, executive director of CPD, said in a press conference that the flooding has caused the most damage to the agriculture and forestry sectors. The damage to these sectors has been estimated at Tk 51.69 billion, about 35.85 percent of the total damages.
The infrastructure sector saw the second-most damage with Tk 46.53 billion, or 32.27 percent of the total.
In addition, the amount of damage to housing or houses is Tk 24.07 billion, which is 16.69 percent of the total.
Of the total damage, 28.68 percent was to roads, 20.99 percent to crops, 16.69 percent to housing, 10.91 percent to fisheries and 8.53 percent to other sectors.
The flooding caused the most damage in the Noakhali district at Tk 41.91 billion in losses, or 29 percent of the total.
Cumilla saw Tk 33.90 billion in damage, Feni Tk 26.83 billion, Chattogram 16.76 billion, Lakshmipur Tk 14.04 billion, Moulvibazar Tk 5.06 billion, Brahmanbaria Tk 1.44 billion, Cox’s Bazar Tk 1 billion, and Sylhet Tk 200 million, the CPD said.
According to this research organisation, among the affected districts, the government aid per capita was Tk 62.10 paisa in Lakshmipur, Tk 92.10 in Noakhali, Tk 136.70 in Cumilla and a maximum of Tk 15,320 in Sylhet.
Asked about the massive gap in the distribution of government funds, the CPD said that either it is a problem in distribution or there is a major flaw in the data storage system.
Researcher Muntaseer Kamal said that the CPD calculated the aid per capita based on the information published by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.
The ministry gave information on providing rice, food, baby food, animal feed and cash assistance as relief.
The CPD made its report on these four issues.
The organisation says that although Noakhali district was the most affected by the flood, Feni received the most relief under the government initiative, with a total of Tk 166 million in relief.
The number of flood-affected people in Feni is 1 million, while in Noakhali the number is 1.6 million. Noakhali received government aid of Tk 149 million, which is the second highest among the districts.
Cumilla had 1.09 million flood victims and received Tk 149 million in aid.
Among the three most affected districts, the amount of per capita assistance in Feni was Tk 165.80, in Cumilla it was Tk 136.70, and in Noakhali Tk 92.90.
Habiganj, which saw comparatively less damage, the aid per capita was Tk 6,450. The district had 20,840 food victims.
The per capita aid for Brahmanbaria was Tk 1,084, for Chattogram it was Tk 3,947, and in Sylhet Tk 15,320.
Complaining about the lack of coordination in relief distribution, Fahmida said: "In Noakhali, 1,643,000 people were affected. The amount of damage was Tk 41.91 billion and Tk 149 million in aid was allocated. According to that, each person received an average of Tk 93.”
"However, the number of flood victims in Sylhet is 9,500, the amount of damage there was Tk 205 million and Tk 146 million was allocated for aid. Each person received Tk 15,320 in aid.”
