CHITTAGONG July 6 The port city is now safe from the sea as the town protection polder which- was washed away by a devastating Udal surge in 1991 has been rebuilt reports UNB

Bangladesh Waler Develop ment Board has completed the reconstruction of the 21-kilo metre embankment stretching from Patenga to Fouzdarhat at a com of Tk 114 crore over a three-year period.

People of the port city are still haunted by the wrath of the eyclonic storm Many lives perished and industrial and military installations were severely aftected as the Udal surge either washed away or damaged the protection em bankment

“Rest assured that the port city will remain largely unharmed if another cyclone similar to that of 1991 hits again." said Engr Abu Taher Khondker of BWDB talking to a group of journalists at the project site on Wednesday (July 3).

Japan and the World Bank provided the construction cost while European Commission

(EC) funded the Tk 15 crore technical study

Khondker. the project dl rector said uptodate sea protection techniques were applied in the reconstruction of the polder making it tinner than the previous one

Earth compaction has been done mechanic ally and extra protec tion provided alcfflgside i he 9 kilometre vulnerable" belt where waves and winds hit with maximum-strength

Concrete seawall has been constructed on vulnerable points and large size stone boulders and big concrete blocks were put tn columns

This is real sea defence Such type of protection is unique in Bangladesh' said the project director pointing at the 1 4 kilometre concrete seawall alongside the Chit tagong Naval base area The strategic Naval base area at South Patenga did confront the harshest blow in the 1991 catastrophic cyclone

The polder is seven metre, on an average, in height. There are sluice gates to flush out wa ter if stagnate inside the embankment.