Bangladesh Seeks Solar Power, Aid for Cyclone Aila Survivors

The use of solar panels for producing electricity for households is now limited to specific rural areas, and, she said, entrepreneurs are seeking to expand solar power to urban areas as a way of resolving Bangladesh's perennial power crisis.

Prime Minister Hasina stressed the need for expanding renewable energy in cities during a meeting with representatives of five banks and financial institutions who came to her office with donations to the Prime Minister's relief fund in aid of the victims of Cyclone Aila.

Survivors of Cyclone Aila must cope with their flooded home. June 1, 2009 (Photo by David Adhikary courtesy Compassion International )

Prime Minister Hasina thanked the banks and institutions for "standing by the families of the martyred army officers and cyclone-affected people of the country's coastal belt."

In total, the donations amounted to Tk 74 lakh (7,400,000 Bangladesh Taka or US$107,560) for the relief fund.

"The amount of your donations is not the thing that counts," the Prime Minister said. "The love and sincerity you showed to the family members and the cyclone victims is a great example of social service," she said in a word of encouragement to the donors."

She observed that day by day natural disasters in Bangladesh are increasing because of global warming, due to excessive emission of greenhouse gases mainly in the developed countries.

About the government's relief and rehabilitation programs after the cyclone Aila hit the coastal districts, Sheikh Hasina said just after getting the forecast she had ordered government ministries and departments to stand by the people with all types of necessary support.

She reiterated her directive to the Metrological Department to produce weather forecasts not only about cyclonic storms but also about the impacts of the high tides and ebb tides.

During Cyclone Aila, storm surges flooded Bangladesh's coastal agricultural areas with salty water. Sheikh Hasina announced the government's plan for building more cyclone centers in the coastal districts and taking necessary steps to keep the embankments strong enough to withstand such storm surges.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Photo by Farjana Khan)

She also underlined the need for arranging alternative way of making seawater available for the shrimp farmers without harming the embankments. Usually the brackish water from the bay is drawn in the shrimp farms through embankment holes. Taking into account the scarcity of fresh water in the coastal region, the Prime Minister said rainwater needs to be harvested as much as possible.

As a way of facing the challenges of the world climate change, the Prime Minister said the government will launch capital dredging in the country's major rivers to increase their navigability and protect the country from sudden floods.

She said the government will dredge the Pashur River to keep the Mongla seaport active.

The Prime Minister said she has recently met with donor countries and agencies to arrange funding to start the dredging works and said she was told they were willing to come forward to help Bangladesh in this regard.

Sheikh Hasina said she also had talks with the World Bank when she was in America last year about its assistance to Bangladesh in facing the challenges of world climate change.

In Geneva on Tuesday, Bangladesh's Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr. Abdur Razzak addressed a plea for financial assistance to the inaugural function of a United Nations conference known as the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Dr. Razzak urged the international community to raise a fund of US$300 million for quick response to disaster threats and natural calamities in Bangladesh.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.