Waiting for the lights

Thousands of people in two districts are still without electricity as the authorities concerned are yet to repair the power lines after Cyclone Sitrang hit the country two days ago.

In Noakhali and Pirojpur, people have been suffering immensely due to the continuous blackout, which has been disrupting businesses and even hospital operations.

In Noakhali, around 50 percent of the subscribers still did not get electricity as of submitting this report at 9:10pm yesterday.

Dil Afroz Baby, a resident of Chatkhil upazila's Hashor area, said, "We have been out of electricity since heavy rains started on Sunday evening. All the food we preserved in our refrigerator has rotted."

Shakhawat Hossain, a resident of Hatiya upazila's Charkoilash area, said, "We have repeatedly contacted the local authorities concerned. But they could not say when the electricity supply will resume."

Contacted, Nurul Amin, executive engineer of Noakhali's Power Development Board, said they expect the power supply to resume in around 80 percent of the affected areas by Wednesday [yesterday] night.

Likewise, in Pirojpur, many people are suffering in darkness.

Mehedi Hasan, a local from Pattashi village in Indurkani upazila, said, "It has become impossible for us to keep in touch with our relatives as we can't charge our phones or any electrical device anymore."

Traders are in fear of huge losses due to the power outage.

Altaf Hossain, a confectioner in the same village, said, "All of my products stored in the refrigerator have melted and I will have to bear huge losses because of this."

Contacted, Abu Umam M Mahbubul Haque, general manager of Pirojpur Palli Bidyut Samity, said it will take two or three more days to resume electricity supply.

At hospitals, services have been severely disrupted due to the power outage.

Ala Uddin, director of Noakhali Central Hospital, said that after the three-night warning signal was announced on Sunday, the electricity supply to the hospital was cut off.

"We had to spend at least Tk 12-14,000 to provide for both lighting and treatment."

Due to this, losses are being incurred every passing day, while medical services are also being hampered, he said.

"Since Sunday afternoon, at least Tk 33,000 was spent on fuel."

Shahadat Hossain, chairman of Ador Hospital Ltd, said around 300 litres of fuel was consumed due to the power outage over the last three days.

"It cost me a whole month's profit, while medical services have also been disrupted."

Meanwhile, the bodies of four more workers, who went missing since a dredger capsized in Chattogram's Mirsarai upazila, were recovered yesterday, raising the death toll to five.

The bodies of three others still remain missing.

Of the recovered bodies, that of Al Amin, 20, was found by fellow workers around 9:00pm on Tuesday night, while rescuers found the bodies of Imam Mollah, 24, Jahidul Islam, 22 and Mahmud Mollah, 25, yesterday morning, said Minhazur Rahaman, Mirsarai upazila nirbahi officer.

The latest body found was that of Md Alam Sardar, 38, son of Nuru Sardar, from Patuakhali's Jainokathi.

His body was also recovered by fellow workers around 10:30pm yesterday, said Kabir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Mirsarai Police station.

Originated in the Bay before setting its course north towards Bangladesh, the cyclone made landfall around 9:00pm on Monday.

CROPS DAMAGED

In Khulna, crops, vegetables and fruits grown on around 18,483 hectares of land have been damaged due to heavy rains and strong winds whipped up by the cyclone, according to the local agriculture office.

Hafizur Rahman, deputy director of Khulna's Agriculture Extension Department, said fields growing Aman paddies, vegetables, papayas and bananas were worst affected.

Sukesh Rakshit, a resident of Tipna village in Khulna's Dumuria upazila, said, "Over 1,000 of my banana trees were damaged by the cyclone on Monday."

Meanwhile, fish farms on around 23 hectares of land were also badly affected by the cyclone, said Ranjit Kumar Sarkar, of Khulna's District Relief and Rehabilitation office.

Jewel Hossain, a fish trader of Baghmara village in Khulna's Rupsha upazila, said, "I cultivated fish in seven ponds. All my fish were washed away due to heavy rains. I will have to count a loss of around Tk 15 lakh."

Even in Tangail, vegetable and banana farmers suffered huge losses due to continuous rain and gusty winds, while banana and papaya orchards of different upazilas in the district were also destroyed.

Khwaja Miah, a resident of Sagardighi of Tangail's Ghatail upazila, said, "Around 8,000 of my banana plants were damaged."

In Sakhipur upazila, over 21,000 banana plants were damaged, according to the local agriculture office.

FISHERMEN HIT HARD

The cyclone wreaked havoc on the fishing community in Bhola's Charfesson upazila and rendered over 30 families homeless there.

Some 150 people in the upazila's Hazaribagh have been living under the open sky as their homes were decimated by the cyclone.

Mizanur Rahman, a fisherman in the area, said, "There was incessant rain throughout Monday … Suddenly, a spell of strong wind hit our house and completely destroyed it.

"We took shelter at one of our relative's houses, but had to leave the next morning. Now, my family and I are living under the open sky."

He added, "Our local union parishad chairman took my photo and [wrote down] my name, saying he would arrange relief assistance for me. But I have not received any yet."

Contacted, Selim Chowdhury, chairman of Hazaribagh union parishad, said at least 30 houses of fishermen were damaged completely, while over 100 were damaged partially.

"We are preparing a list of the victims to provide relief with," he said.

Al Noman, upazila nirbahi officer of Charfesson, said they will soon begin distributing the relief.

(Our correspondents from respective districts contributed to the report.)