DHAKA, Nov 26 (NNN-BSS) – The Bangladeshi government has decided to construct 120 more cyclone shelter centres in 13 coastal districts, to safeguard communities facing disaster risks.
The cyclone shelter centres will be built between Jan next year and Dec, 2027, under a project taken up by the Department of Disaster Management, with full funds from the government, the Financial Express reported, yesterday.
Firoz Uddin, additional secretary of the Department of Disaster Management, said, Bangladesh ranked ninth out of 192 countries in the Global Risk Report-2022, placing it fifth among Asian nations.
Around 35 million Bangladeshi people reside in coastal and other cyclone-prone areas across 17 districts, representing more than one-fifth of the country’s 160 million people, the official said.
He said that, by 2020, the government had constructed 2,000 cyclone shelters and 10,130 disaster-resilient houses, to mitigate disaster risks for coastal communities.
Despite these efforts, he acknowledged that coastal residents, their properties and livestock remained vulnerable to the devastating impacts of cyclones.
A senior official at the Ministry of Finance, said that, the construction of more cyclone shelter centres is necessary, to protect people in disaster-prone coastal districts.
“The impacts of climate change are increasingly becoming visible in Bangladesh,” he said, adding that, cyclones and tropical storms are now hitting frequently.– NNN-BSS
