Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
The flood affected people are scrambling for relief as they have been passing a miserable condition due to the loss of their livelihood during more than two weeks submerge.
They are living under the humanity-level index for inadequate assistance from the government and non-government sources.
Even, no relief has been reportedly reached in various flood-hit areas though the government has repeatedly claimed that the relief has been distributed all the flood-affected people according to the list.
Besides, sufferings of many flood-hit people mounts to the worst as they have been allegedly deprived of relief facilities by considering their political identities and local government’s vote issue.
In this condition, they sought the government’s interfere in distributing relief to all the affected people without any irregularities.
According to official data, over 45 people died while the number of affected people reached to more than 25 lakh. Besides, 3,022 people are sufferers of water-born diseases.
Around 1,440 educational institutes, 250 religious institutions and 8,218 kilometer (280km concrete) roads have been damaged over 400 upazilas in 20 districts in the country’s northern and middle parts due to heavy rain and onrush of hilly water, the data showed. Besides, 94,536 hectors of crops have gone under water while 158 shelter centers were made for the flood affected people, the data said. Around 10,000 packets of relief and a huge amount of water purifying tablets have been sent to the flood-affected districts till Monday, it added.
Meanwhile, flood situation has improved at Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Serajganj, Bogra and Kurigram districts as the water levels of the Brahmaputra, Jamuna and Dharla rivers started declining, said Ripon Karmakar, Assistant Engineer of the Flood Forecast and Warning Centre at the Water Development Board (WDP).
The flood situation in Niphamari, Rajbari, Manikganj, Munshiganj and Shariatpur districts is likely to deteriorate.
The water levels of the Buriganga, Balu, Lakhya rivers around the capital city of Dhaka are showing a rising trend which may continue for two more days, he said.
The water levels of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Surma-Kushiyara continue to decline, the Ganges remain unchanged while the Padma is sowing rising trend.
Abdus Salam, an inhabitant of Ward No. 4 in Gajaria Union Parishad of Fulchhari Upazila in Gaibandha district, said, “I deprived from relief as I did not cast my vote in favour of the incumbent Chairman Shamsul Alam.”
Lili Begum, an inhabitant of the same village, said, “We are deprived of the government help after the recent UP polls as we are not supporter of the ruling party.”
Contacted, Shamsul Alam, the UP chairman, said that the scarcity of relief is the main reason of short supplying.
“We are facing acute crisis of cooked food and pure drinking water as well as medicines,” said Rubina Begum, an inhabitant of Dalia UP in Dimla upazila of Nilphamari district.
She alleged that discrimination by the local ruling party men for distribution of the relief goods based on ration cards is a common phenomenon. Rina Begum, 35, of Dauabari village, said, “She gave birth to twins in the camp without assistance of a professional midwife. As a result, one of the babies has died of fever and the other is seriously ill.”
Mahasina Bewa, 75, of Kalmari village in Kuragram’s Chimari uapazila has been suffering from diarrhoea after drinking contaminated flood water. At least 61,000 hectares of crop fields have gone under flood waters in 17 districts, said an officer the Department of Agricultural Extension.
Mohammad Abdul Wazed, Director General of Department of Disaster Management, said, “We are supplying government relief only to the marginal poor people.
We asked the local government body to distribute the relief goods and medicines by identifying the extremely affected people, he said. In a query, he said, “No one complained to us about the distribution by considering the political identity and local vote issue. If any one complaints over the irregularities then we will take tough action against them.”
