Bangladesh Bank has instructed banks to give special attention to disburse agriculture loans at reduced interest rate in the flood affected districts. The Agriculture Credit Department (ACD) of the BB on Monday issued a circular asking banks to disburse 40 per cent of the remaining allocation of Tk3000 crore refinance scheme in the flood-affected districts. The central bank created the re-finance scheme to boost production in the agriculture sector. Also read: Rain damages 412 hectares of croplands in Kurigram: DAE Banks will disburse agricultural loans under this scheme at 4 per cent interest rate. The BB will provide funds at 1.0 per cent interest rate to the banks. Marginal farmers in a group will get maximum Tk2.0 lakh loans without collateral, which will be paid by 18 months along with 6 months grace period. Agriculture and Rural Credit Policy covers cereals and cash crops, vegetables, legumes, imports of alternative crops such as pulses, oilseeds, spices and maize. Also read: Croplands inundated in Faridpur as major rivers swell Fruit and flower cultivation, fisheries, poultry and livestock sector, other agricultural crops and irrigation machinery and seed production are also covered in this loans scheme. The government declared flood affected districts will be covered under the Tk3000 crore refinance scheme.

The government has allocated rice, money and dry food as humanitarian assistance for affected people in flood and other natural disaster in Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, and Kishoreganj districts. The allocation was made by the Disaster Management and Relief Ministryon Friday, according to a press release. From the allotment, Brahmanbaria will get 2,000 packets of dry and other food products, Cumilla  200 MTs rice, Tk 17 lakh, 1,700 dry and other food packets, Kishoreganj  100 MTs rice, Tk 10 lakh and 2,000 packets of dry and other food products. Read: Flood water receding in Sunamganj, clogged wastes pollute municipal area air Earlier, 4,020 MTs rice, Tk 5.36 crore and 95,000 food packets were allocated for the 11 flood-hit districts across the country. The allocated relief (cash) money will be distributed only as humanitarian assistance to the victims of various natural calamities including floods during emergencies, said the release.  

Telecom operators have swung into emergency mode to restore their networks in the three flood-affected districts of Bangladesh --Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrakona. So far, cellular coverage has been restored at 1,166 of 2,528 sites in these districts, the Post and Telecommunication Ministry has said in a release. Read: Govt working to restore telecommunication in flood-hit areas Three telecom operators -- Internet Service Provider (ISP), Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) and Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) -- provide services in these three districts. The Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has also set up a monitoring cell for the flood-hit areas.

Health Minister Zahid Malek said on Sunday that 4,000 medical teams of the Health Services Division are ready to provide services in 11 flood-hit districts of the country, especially the worst-hit Sylhet andSunamganj. Leaves for doctors, nurses and health workers at all levels in the Sylhet region have been canceled, said the minister at a hotel in the capital. Despite the unfavorable environment, water purification tablets, saline, medicines and food are being sent to these districts as much as possible. Read: Army puts stranded DU students on a bus headed home At present, 200 teams have been formed in Sylhet region, he added. The health minister said several districts, including Sylhet, have been hit by massive floods. “Especially the situation in Sylhet and Sunamganj are the worst-hit areas. For this, a control room has been set up at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Dhaka as well as locally.” Flood situation in Sylhet started turning into a terrible disaster from Thursday afternoon as almost all the upazilas and municipal areas went under water.

Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Tuesday asked the officials concerned to monitor the field activities and supervise it closely after visiting the flood-hit areas as soon as possible to recoup farmers’ losses.

The government has distributed 7,147 metric tonnes of rice among the flood-affected people as humanitarian assistance.

Twenty-three districts have so far been hit by flooding and many more areas might be inundated if the situation does not improve, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman said Thursday.