Eid makes no difference to 5 lakh

People use country boats for movement at waterlogged Raripara village in Tala upazila of Satkhira district, right, residents of flooded areas lead a miserable life in shanties beside Satkhira-Khulna road at Kapasdanga in Tala upazila as large areas on the basin of silted Kobadak River have remained under water for years.Photo: STAR

Eid-ul-Azha will not bring cheers to around three lakh waterlogged people in Satkhira and over two lakh flood and river erosion-hit people in Lalmonirhat.
Incessant rain and water from silted Kobadak and Betna rivers triggered water logging in 174 villages of Tala, Kalaroa and Satkhira Sadar upazilas of Satkhira district in September this year, affecting around three lakh people, reports our Satkhira correspondent.
The affected people, mainly dependent on agriculture, will not be able to celebrate Eid as persisting water logging has caused extensive damage to their crops and houses and also to roads, bridges, culverts and educational institutions in the areas.
The poor people in the waterlogged areas have been residing in makeshift camps erected on high roads as they could not rebuild their damaged houses for lack of money.
With outbreak skin diseases and other intestinal diseases in the makeshift camps and in the affected areas, a large number of patients are receiving treatment at Satkhira Sadar Hospital and the upazila health complexes.
Commuters are also suffering a lot due to suspension of road communications between the affected areas and the district headquarters.
Our Lalmonirhat correspondent adds: About two lakh people, affected by recent flood and erosion by the rivers in Teesta and Dharal basins, are unable to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha.
The badly affected areas are in Aditmari, Kaliganj, Hatibandha and Patgram upazilas. The flood caused damaged to the houses and crops while the rivers devoured a large number of homesteads and farmlands in the areas.
The flood and erosion-hit people said they are unable to celebrate Eid as they have to struggle to arrange their daily meal.
Sarafat Islam, 68, a farmer of erosion-hit Balapara village in Aditmari upazila, said, “The Teesta has devoured my homestead. Now I have no shelter to live in with my family. So, Eid will not bring joy to us.”
Flood affected Yasin Ara Begum, 45, of Dawabari village in Hatibandha upazila, said they cultivated aman on eight bighas of land, but flood had damaged their crop. “We cannot afford to buy sacrificial animal on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha,” she added.
Meanwhile, Lalmonirhat district administration has already distributed 73,500 Eid special VGF cards in the district. Each of 45 union gets 1500 cards and each of two municipalities get 3000 cards.
Deputy Commissioner Mokhlesar Rahman Sarker told this correspondent that 735 tonnes of rice under special VGF programme have been distributed among 73,500 vulnerable families in 45 unions and two municipalities of five upazilas. Each of the poor families has been given 10 Kg of rice, he added.