Coronavirus shutdown: Food crisis continues in remote parts of Bandarban

With only five kilogrammes of rice left in the house, In Chong Mro, a Jhum farmer from Bandarban's Lama upazila, has no idea how he will feed his family after two to three days.

In Chong, from Langkom Mro Para would usually rely on his harvest of crops for the subsistence of his family of three.

But he did not have much leftover harvest from last year and had moved to selling bananas to make money. But owing to the coronavirus shutdown, he has not been able to get out of the house in the last month.

"My children have had to eat wild spinach and rice for the last month," Chong said.

Chong is among one of many such families in Langkom Para.

"I do not know how I will manage food for my family of five," said Menrao Mro, whose last items of food will run out in two days, of the same village.

There are 15 families in Langkom Mro para and of them 10 are in severe food crisis, said Langkom Mro Karbari (chief) of the para (neighbourhood).

The neighbourhood was locked down on March 3 following reports of the global outbreak of coronavirus, the karbari said.

The villagers of this para have not received relief from any government or non-governemnt organisation in this time, the chief added.

The upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Lama was also contacted in this regard. UNO Nur-e-Jannat said, "I have directed local representatives to prioritise the Mro people living in remote areas."

Union Parishad Chairman Faridul Alom said they are trying to make a list of people who are most disadvantaged and are in immediate need of relief.

Another ward member, Jamal Uddin, said he had not visited Langkom para since 2016, when he last went there to campaign for elections.  But he says he will go tomorrow. "There are around 1,300 families in my ward and I got relief only for 142 families."

The situation at many remote paras of Alikodom, Thanchi, Ruma, Rowangchhari and Naikhongchhari upazilas of Bandarban is also similar.

However, the news is not all grave. On April 8, local administration distributed government relief to the remote Kapru Para of Bandarban's Lama upazila this evening after The Daily Star ran a report on the matter titled "Acute food crisis hits village in Bandarban".

The chief of Kapru Para, the neighbourhood that was featured in the earlier report, said they received some relief but it would not be enough to sustain them for a long stretch of time.