Farmers in areas hit by cyclone Fani might get loan waiver facility as part of the rehabilitation from the tropical storm that struck Bangladesh Saturday, officials said.
The ministry of agriculture (MoA) is now collecting loan-related data of the farmers before placing the proposals of such waiver to the ministry of finance (MoF), an official of the ministry told the FE.
Although the storm weakened before hitting the Bangladesh territory, it affected a good number of farmers cultivating harvestable Boro crops, he said.
"The farmers now need to be rehabilitated. We are going to make the loan waiver proposal to the relevant ministry soon," said the official.
According to government estimates, the tropical storm caused a financial loss of over Tk 5.36 billion in the form of damaging roads, bridges, dams, cropland, houses and livestock.
The cyclone affected a total of 63,063 hectares of crop land in the country, of which 1,804 hectares were severely damaged.
State minister for disaster management and relief Md. Enamur Rahman backs the proposal, saying that the farmers battered by Fani should be given loan waiver facility.
At the same time, steps need to be taken so that the growers can get fresh loan, which is important after such a natural disaster, he said.
He noted his ministry has urged the ministry of finance (MoF) to take urgent steps so that micro-lenders cannot file any cases against farmers during the recovery stage.
The minister hailed the precautionary measures by state, which helped minimise the loss of life and property.
According to the ministry of disaster management and relief, the cyclone caused financial losses of Tk 780 million in damaged roads, Tk 2.51 billion in damaged embankments, Tk 2.41 billion in damaged roads and Tk 1.61 billion in livestock and fisheries.
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