Lack of knowledge among the Netrokona government officials concerned about the problems plaguing the haors and plans to mitigate the flood situation has irked Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya.
At a meeting on Monday night, Maya ordered the officials to file a report to Netrokona deputy commissioner by Wednesday noon on the damage in the haors and ways to tackle the problem.
He also asked them to stand by the affected people, reports Bangla Tribune.
Netrokona, one of the worst-affected districts in the recent flash floods, suffered massive damage as the farmers lost their Boro crops and fishes were killed.
Also Read: Flash flood in the Haors may worsen rice price hike
In his introductory speech, Deputy Commissioner M Mushfiqur Rahman told the meeting that 390km stretch of embankment had been damaged. The floods also killed 1,180 tonnes of fish and affected more than half of the district's livestock, aside from triggering a fodder crisis.
Maya then asked participants of the meeting, held at the district's Zilla Parishad office, about how they planned to tackle the crisis. But the officials failed to come up with any plans, angering the minister.
Maya first asked the district agricultural officer about damage to crops but the latter failed to give him a clear idea.
Also Read: Paddy production hit by flood in the Haors
Later the heads of the district's fisheries and livestock, executive engineers of public health, Water Development Board, roads and highways; the civil surgeon, LGRD executive officer, district education officer, primary education officer and cooperatives officer, too, failed to answer the minister.
DC Mushfiqur requested then the minister to provide 75,000 Vulnerable Group Feeding or VGF cards and one open market sale (OMS) dealer for each union.
The government has already announced emergency monthly supplies to the affected people in various districts.
Maya on Sunday said 335,000 families of the flood-ravaged Haor region would receive relief. Each family will get 30kg rice and Tk500 as emergency support under a 100-day scheme.
Also Read: 30kg rice, Tk500 monthly relief for affected haor families
Apart from rice and cash, some 171,715 families will get relief materials through the VGF programme and OMS.
But the destruction of more than 200,000 hectares of mature Boro paddy in the flash floods in the northeastern wetlands may further push up the rice prices, traders say.
More than half of the rice produced in Bangladesh is Boro. Government data shows that 19 million tonnes out of the total 35 million tonnes of rice produced in the 2015-16 fiscal was Boro.
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