The population of almost 150,000 people in the coastal area of Lakshmipur are at a high risk, in the event of a deluge, as there are no dams to stem the flow of water and insufficient number of disaster centres to offer refuge from the floodwaters.
The district has a total of 104 shelter centres for the five upazilas, of which three are completely unusable due to river erosion and some others are on the verge of suffering the same fate. The rest of the shelters have also suffered extensive damage.
The doors, windows and toilets of most centres are damaged, leaving the people of the area no choice but to seek shelter in educational institutions during natural calamities. The locals are extremely anxious about their situation as their requirements continue to remain unattended by the authorities.
A local inhabitant, Arif Hossain, said: “We do not have sufficient facilities to face natural calamities and the most of the dams are already broken.”
Another local, Abdus Sahid, said: “We used to take shelter in these centres during storms and natural calamities but now the river has eroded these centres.”
“We do not know what we will do during storms as there are insufficient storm shelters. We urge the government to build new shelter centres,” he added.
30-35 shelter centres are needed to save people from the heavy tides of the Meghna river.
Lakshmipur district relief and rehabilitation official, Orunendro Kishor Chakrabarti, said: “Repairs of some shelters are currently being undertaken so that they can be used during any natural disasters.”
“Building of new shelters has already been initiated to offer refuge to more people. We hope we can do it within very short time,” he added.
