Local administration to maintain sluicegates, not WDB: Home Minister

Visiting the flood-affected areas of Pekua in Cox's Bazar, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said that in the future, the responsibility for maintaining sluicegates will be carried out by the local administration and public representatives instead of the Water Development Board. This will allow sluicegates to be opened quickly as needed to drain water, reducing the risk of waterlogging and flooding.

He made these remarks while speaking to journalists after visiting various flood-affected areas in Pekua on Saturday (July 18) afternoon.

During the visit, he inspected damaged roads, affected roads, culverts and other infrastructure, and spoke to affected people to inquire about their suffering. He said the government is working to quickly repair necessary infrastructure to overcome post-flood losses.

Earlier, the Home Minister attended as chief guest a distribution programme of house-building materials for 20 flood-affected families, organised by the Alhaj Shamsul Haque Foundation at the upazila central ground. He handed over the materials to the affected families.

The Home Minister said the recent floods have caused extensive damage to roads, houses and various infrastructure in Pekua and surrounding areas. The government and political parties will stand by the affected people and provide necessary assistance to overcome the losses.

He said the Alhaj Shamsul Haque Foundation has once again stood by helpless people as it did in the past. By providing essential materials for building houses for the homeless, they have fulfilled their humanitarian duty. He thanked those associated with the foundation for this.

The Shamsul Haque Foundation said it has taken the initiative to build 100 houses for the rehabilitation of people affected by the recent floods. As part of this, in the first phase, with the cooperation of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, house-building materials were handed over to 20 affected families in Pekua. Assistance will be provided to the remaining families in phases.

Earlier on Friday, the Home Minister visited various flood-affected areas in Chakaria upazila and distributed relief materials among affected people.