Ashikur Rahman Shanto, Bhola

Fifty-six years after the catastrophic cyclone of November 12, 1970, residents of Bhola remembered the world’s deadliest tropical storm on Thursday, renewing urgent calls for stronger coastal protection, embankments, and cyclone shelters.

To mark the day, a memorial meeting and prayer session were held at the Bhola Zila Parishad auditorium at 11:00 AM along with various programmes organized across the island district.

Presided over by Zila Parishad Administrator and District BNP Convener Alhaj Golam Nabi Alamgir, the event featured Deputy Commissioner Dr. Shamim Rahman as the chief guest and Superintendent of Police Md. Shahidullah Kawsar as a special guest. District BNP leaders Raisul Alam and Aminul Islam Khan, Ajker Bhola Editor Alhaj Shawkat Hossain, and former Principal Farukur Rahman, among others, also addressed the gathering.

Speakers and survivors recalled the horror of that fateful night in 1970, when a massive tidal surge from the Bay of Bengal wiped out entire settlements across Bhola—including Monpura, Char Fasson, Lalmohan, Tazumuddin, and Daulatkhan—claiming an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 lives, with unofficial tolls exceeding one million.

Survivor Amirul Islam of Daulatkhan recounted losing 18 family members, returning two weeks later to find his entire neighborhood reduced to ruins. Monpura politician Kamal Chowdhury noted that barely a third of the island's 36,000 residents survived the storm, which disproportionately claimed the lives of children and forced authorities to bury victims in mass graves due to a shortage of shroud cloth.

While speakers acknowledged Bangladesh's significant progress in disaster management over the past five decades, they warned that vulnerable char areas remain dangerously exposed.

Locals cited isolated Dhalchar Union in Char Fasson, where relentless river erosion has swallowed schools, hospitals, and homesteads, demanding sustainable embankments and adequate shelters so coastal communities never face such devastation again.