15sep98
BANGLADESH'S worst floods this century have crippled the country's largest port, further threatening an economy already struggling to cope with the impact of the disaster.
Port authorities in Chittagong said the nationwide floods and resultant disruption to communications had halved loading and unloading at the port, which usually reaches 26,000 tonnes daily.
Officials say the calamity has hit exports badly and blocked imported, emergency food aid needed to stave off famine in 55 of the flood-hit nation's 64 districts. The floods, the third major such disaster since 1954, have cut off the country from India, which accounts for 90 per cent of trading activity, and affected 30 million people since July.
Some 12,000 containers had been dumped in yards meant to hold 8000, Chittagong port chairman Zahiruddin Mahmud said. "We are facing problems with the transportation of goods to and from Chittagong," he said, adding that 40 ships carrying 250,000 tonnes of cargo, including 100,000 tonnes of food, were stuck in the harbour.
Floods have cut key roads between Chittagong and the capital, Dhaka, stranding 5000 trucks due to carry cargo from the port on the Bay of Bengal. |
