The government is constructing 139 polders in the coastal belt to protect the areas from tidal surges and floods, Minister of State for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque said Saturday.
Constructing the polders will cost Tk3,280 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 Barisal Sadar upazila.
He said the construction work of 10 polders has already started in the first phase. Some 39 polders will be constructed in the next five year and the remaining ones in phases, he said.
Once the construction of the polders is complete, the damage caused by floods and tidal surges will be reduced and the coastal people will be benefited, he said.
Later, Farooque on behalf of the Prime Minister distributed relief items among the flood-victims at Palashpur in Barisal city, said a press release.
