Cyclone Sitrang: Armed forces to evacuate people from remote areas

State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman has said that the Army, the Navy and the Coast Guard members will evacuate people from hard-to-reach areas as cyclone Sitrang is heading towards Bangladesh.

The state minister said this during a press briefing at the ministry's conference room at the Secretariat on Monday.

"We've requested the representatives of the armed forces and the Coast Guard to assist us in relocating people from danger zones to the safe cyclone shelters and they've agreed. The volunteers of the Fire Service and the Red Crescent are also working alongside volunteers of Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) to ensure safety to the affected people," Enamur said.

Replying to a question, he said that Sitrang is a severe cyclonic storm and it is unlikely to turn into a very severe or super cyclone like Sidr in 2007.

"We've prepared a total of 7,030 cylcone shelters in 15 coastal districts where around 25 lakh people can be accommodated. In each of these districts, we've allocated Tk 5 lakh and supplied daily essentials like rice and lentil so that people can eat cooked food. Besides, dry foods like biscuits have also been made available so that people may not suffer from hunger," Enamur said.

Asked when Sitrang will hit Bangladesh, the state minister said that the impact will be between 6:00am to 7:00am on Tuesday morning.

"The Met office has hoisted danger signal 7 in various coastal districts including Bagerhat, which may go up to signal 10. We'll ensure the safety of people and their cattle, but we can't assure that the agricultural and fisheries resources will remain unaffected," Enamur added.