2nd batch Rohingya reaches Bhasan Char
Five vessels of Bangladesh Navy carrying 1,804 Rohingyas reached Bhashan Char around 1:30pm on Tuesday
The second batch of Rohingya groups has reached Bhasan Char.
Five vessels of the Bangladesh Navy carrying 1,804 Rohingyas, including 523 women and 848 children, arrived at Bhasan Char between 1pm and 1:30pm on Tuesday.
The vessels carrying the Rohingyas had left Chattogram Boat Club at 9:10am.
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Earlier on Monday, they were brought to Chattogram from the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar. They were taken to Chattogram on buses amid the presence of law enforcers.
"We are ready to accommodate 1 lakh Rohingyas in Bhasan Char," Commodore Abdullah Al Mamun Chowdhury, project director of Bhasan Char, told The Business Standard on Monday afternoon.
The buildings designated for the accommodation of this batch of Rohingyas have already been prepared so that they can move in their new home as soon as they reach Bhasan Char.
Meanwhile, health workers have been instructed to conduct health check-ups of the Rohingyas after they arrive at the island.
At the same time, Bangladesh Navy personnel will provide them with food for two months, said the project director of Bhasan Char.
The news of their arrival has been met with enthusiasm among those who have come here in the first phase. The Rohingyas who came in the first phase are constantly communicating with those coming in the second phase.
Bhasan Char
Bhasan Char – located around 39km from Noakhali in an estuary of the Meghna River – was covered in a shroud of grass and mangrove trees. But now the desolate islet has taken a new look altogether with buildings painted pink.
From houses for living, solar panels for electricity, biogas fuel for cooking and waste management system, cyclone centres, mobile phone network – everything is available for its new habitants.
Bangladesh has been hosting over 11 lakh Rohingyas in congested Cox's Bazar camps. Some 1,00,000 Rohingyas will gradually be shifted to Bhasan Char, which is well-equipped with modern facilities, including schools, mosques, community clinics, mobile networks and Internet, for Rohingyas.
The whole island is mostly solar-powered with solar systems installed on rooftops of all 1,440 buildings, including 120 cyclone shelter centres.
The buildings have around 52,000 lights. Around 1,000 solar-powered street lights illuminate the island's streets at night.
The ponds – each 5,461 square feet – will be used as alternative sources of water. Besides, there are also rainwater harvesting facilities in all cluster houses.
Roads stretching around 42km have been constructed for internal communication. Human haulers and battery-run rickshaws will ply the roads.
The mobile phone network on the island is provided by Grameenphone and Robi. A fire station is also there.
