Adviser for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Syeda Rizwana Hasan on Thursday said the advisers of the interim government will visit all the flood-affected areas to help mitigate the plights of flood victims.
“We have decided that the advisers will visit all the flood-affected districts,” she said while briefing reporters at the chief adviser’s Jamuna office in the capital, after a meeting of the council of advisers.
During the meeting, she said, the advisers discussed with utmost importance the country’s flood situation, what the interim government can do for the flood victims, how it can coordinate with the government agencies, what the reasons behind the flooding are, and what the government can do to address floods in the future.
“The person who is responsible for relief activities is going to Feni today (Thursday) to observe the flood situation there, and will coordinate relief distribution efforts by reaching the district’s most affected areas,” Rizwana said.
She said downpours took place in both upstream areas in India and flood-affected areas in the country.
In the event of such flash floods, getting early warnings from upstream countries like India is essential, and to this end, the chief adviser was due to have a meeting with the Indian high commissioner on Thursday. The advisers will continue to monitor the situation until flood-affected people are rehabilitated,” the environment adviser said.
During the advisory council meeting, she said, the advisers decided to set up a foundation to care for the injured people, and look after the families of those killed and injured in the student-people revolution that ousted the autocratic Awami League government on 5 August.
“The chief adviser will be the head of the foundation, while the members of affected families will be members of the foundation. The function of the foundation will be to ensure the treatment of the injured and preserve the memories of the revolution so that generations after generations people can know about what happened during the movement. The foundation will be a legal entity,” Rizwana said.
She said they also discussed formulating a policy for naming any structure or institution that would be built with public money.
At one stage, the naming practices would be brought under a legal framework so that naming of any structure reflects the people’s expectation, and it does not go in favour of fascism, the adviser said.
“We have, in principle, decided to form a commission on enforced disappearances for investigating the incidents,” she said
The meeting also discussed resolving the demands that many people have started raising in the wake of an autocrat’s fall — so that their activities do not hamper public life.
She said the advisers also stressed taking steps so that foreign fishing vehicles cannot enter the country’s marine territory to catch fish.
Adviser for Information and Broadcasting Nahid Islam urged people from all walks of life to come forward to help the flood victims.
He said all must work together to address the flood situation in the same way they got untied during the student-people revolution.
“We have observed that water coming from the upstream areas is deteriorating the flood situation in Bangladesh. By not warning Bangladesh before opening its dams, India has shown its inhumane attitude,” he said.