Initial estimates show Bangladesh cyclone damage at $929mn

Dhaka, Nov 25 (Xinhua) The Cyclone Sidr which left a trail of death and destruction across Bangladesh, has caused a loss of more than $929 million or 65 billion taka, according to initial estimates.

The final figure of loss may be many times more than the initial figures after the government submits a full assessment of the situation, says Bangladesh's economic think tank the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), which made the estimate on the basis of first reports. It added that the country would take years to overcome the ravages of the cyclone.

The CPD calculated the loss of paddy at $500 million or 3,500 billion taka, roads and bridges at $ 157 million (11 billion taka), houses at $ 107 million (7.5 billion taka) and loss of trees at $71.4 million or 5 billion taka.

'But the figures might shoot up significantly as the ministry is updating the data on a daily basis,' Mustafizur Rahman, CPD executive director was quoted as saying.

He said they had to depend on government data since it is almost impossible to collect it from the field with limited resources.

Abul Barakat, another economist with CPD, said the cyclone had affected more than 40 million people across the country and 10 million of them lived in the coastal zone.

'It will take years to recover from the loss,' he said.

The southwestern Sundarbans, the world largest mangrove forest, will take at least 40 years to recover from the destruction of the cyclone.

The economists said Sidr left thousands of people economically ruined in the coastal zone. Many people do not have any means left for earning since the cyclone had ravaged the coastal belt of the country.

In many cyclone hit areas, all business activities are at a complete halt, causing great economic loss, the economists said, adding that they fear it might also cause inflation and reduce the growth of gross domestic products (GDP).

Besides, resources from Dhaka have to move towards the coastal zone to tackle the immediate crisis, which will hamper economic growth, they said.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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