Chattogram Port authorities suspended all activities on Saturday morning after great danger signal number 9 was issued for the port.All the ships were taken away to safe areas to lessen the damage by very severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' which is likely to hit the country's coastal region this evening.
The port authorities declared its own alert No 4, said Port Secretary Md Omar Faruk. mShips and small vessels were taken to the upstream of Shah Amanat Bridge while larger ships were shifted to Kutubdia and Cox's Bazar coasts, he added. The activities at Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport remained normal till now, said Wing Commander Sarwar E Alam. He said that they will suspend airport activities if needed.
Met Office said low-lying areas of the coastal districts are "likely to be inundated by storm surge of 5-7 feet height above normal astronomical tide" because of the fast-approaching cyclone.District Administration, Chattogram Port Authority (CPA), Chattogram Civil Surgeon, Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and Red Crescent Society have taken up massive preparations to cope with any eventuality of the cyclonic storm Bulbul that formed over east-central Bay.
The district administration in an emergency meeting, chaired by Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ilias Hossain, decided to keep standby medical teams with adequate relief materials including drinking water and dry foods in all shelter centres during pre and post cyclone situation.
Ilias Hossain said a total of 2,758 cyclone shelter centres including 2,269 primary schools have been prepared in all coastal upazilas of the district. Leaves of all officials, employees, doctors and nurses have been cancelled and kept them standby to face any eventuality of the cyclonic storm, said Ilias, also chairman of the district disaster management committee.
Sufficient volunteers including members of Red Crescent Society have already prepared to cope with the upcoming disasters, he said, adding, "Announcement through loud speakers about the cyclone awareness began this morning and it will be continued until further notice."
A total of 284 medical teams with 5,000 health workers, adequate number of volunteers of the Red Crescent Society have been kept ready and district administration is monitoring round the clock in this regard, Dr Azizur Rahman, civil surgeon of Chattogram, told BSS.
The concerned authorities and agencies have separately opened several control rooms to monitor the pre and post cyclonic situation. Under the influence of Cyclonic storm Bulbul, the activities of Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) have already stopped from 12 noon , CPA Secretary Mohammad Omar Faruk said.The vessels, anchored at the jetties, are being taken to the safer places especially in outer anchorage with a view to protecting the jetties from any impending destruction likely to be caused by the cyclone, he added.
All the vehicles of Chattogram City Corporation are prepared to respond to any emergency call, Engineer Sudip Bashak of CCC said. The ward councilors are working in their respective areas to aware people and also coordinating different voluntary organisations and non government organizations to face probable consequence of the cyclone.
In the backdrop of hoisting maritime port Chattogram signal number four, all fishing boats and trawlers over the North Bay and deep sea have been advised to remain in shelter till further notice. Meanwhile, maritime ports of Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist great danger signal number 10, it said in a special bulletin at 9am.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman on Saturday advised the people of 13 coastal districts to come to cyclone shelters by 2pm. At a briefing at the Secretariat, he urged the media and mobile operators to publish and broadcast this information.He said holidays of the government officials of 13 coastal districts were cancelled as the very severe cyclonic storm is expected to hit Bangladesh in the evening.
At the same time, three holidays of the Ministry and Disaster Management Department were cancelled, he added."The government has taken adequate measures to face very severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul'," he said, adding that necessary steps have taken to ensure that people and livestock in the coastal areas can safely move to cyclone shelters. State Minister Rahman said all deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers were advised to bring the people to shelters.
Altogether, 55,515 volunteers are working in 41 upazilas have been alerting people. Rahman said 14,000 packets of dry food, Tk 70 lakh and 1,400mt rice have been allocated for the people of Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola and Pirojpur districts.
Meanwhile, 600mt rice and Tk 30 lakh have been allocated for the people of Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar districts.Armed Forces Division was advised to be prepared and take necessary steps to tackle any situation. Monday's Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations have been postponed as very severe cyclonic storm 'Bulbul' continues to approach the coast.
MA Khair, public relations officer of the Education Ministry, confirmed the matter to UNB on Saturday noon.The postponed JSC exam will be held on November 13 while the JDC exam will take place on November 16. Earlier, Saturday's scheduled JSC and JDC exams for Saturday were also postponed for the same reason. The new date for the JSC exam is November 12 while the JDC exam has been rescheduled for November 14.
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