No smiles this Eid for people in flood-hit Kurigram, Lalmonirhat

Nearly four lakh people in the flood affected regions of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts will be spending Eid-ul-Azha in despair this year.

Most have taken shelter on the government roads, flood protection embankments, shelter centres and rail lines along the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers.

There are a large number of polythene-wrapped huts seen on Char Sonaigazi, Char Jatindranarayan embankment at Phulbaria and Kurigram-Ramna rail lines at Chilmari in Kurigram where the affected people are staying for the last one month.

Banesa Begum (55) of Char Sonaigazi in Phulbari said, "My family and I took shelter on the embankment about four weeks ago, as the sudden gush of water destroyed my homestead. All our Eid preparations, including our children's dresses were washed away by the flood water."

"Eid is meaningless to us now."

Sixty-seven year old Kulsum Bewa, who took shelter on Ramna rail line along with her seven-member family, said, "We are still homeless and living in the temporary shelter and we don't know when we will return home."

Kurigram's Chilmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) AW M Raihan Shah said all the six unions under the upazila have been affected by the recent floods and people of the area had to take shelter on the embankments.

Executive Engineer of Water Development Board (WDB) in Kurigram Ariful Islam said the water level of Brahmaputra and Dharla rivers is still above the danger mark.