Flood victims plead for relief in Sylhet's Companiganj

Hundreds of people waiting on highway as their houses were inundated by floodwater were looking for vehicles with relief goods.

Samia Begum, with her child on her lap, is one of the flood victims waiting for relief on Sylhet-Gowainghat-Companiganj highway. Her wet clothes testify the travail she went through to reach the highway from the temporary shelter center she is now living due to floods.

On Monday afternoon, Samia said she had not eaten anything since last night. She was thirsty as she could not avail drinking water.

Samia is a resident of Telikhal union of Companiganj upazila in Sylhet. She had taken shelter at under construction building of fire service on Thursday after her house was flooded. Around 450 marooned people have taken shelter at the fire service building.

Samia told Prothom Alo that she did not receive any relief in four days. A person gave her some flattened rice (cheera) and puffed rice (moori). Other sheltered people had some dry food and they shared that with her. Now, the food shortage hit all of them as their personal food stock has depleted.

People sheltered at the fire service station, Telikhal government high school and Companiganj government model high school claimed they had not received any relief from the government. A number of individuals have distributed some dry food but that is insufficient in comparison to the needs of people. There is also an acute shortage of water in some places, and water is being fetched from tube wells in distant places.

Not only the people of shelter centres, but residents of a number of villages also said they did not get any relief from local people’s representatives or the administration.

Companiganj’s upazila nirbahi officer Lushi Kant Hajong, however, said the government has so far sent 66,000 kilograms of rice and dry food worth Tk 1 million to the flood victims through local people’s representatives. A total of 1,700 packets of food are being distributed from the prime minister’s relief fund.

Yet people are complaining that they are not getting food, the UNO said.

Asked about sheltered people’s complaints of not getting the relief in Telikhal government primary school, the UNO said police went with relief goods there on Monday evening.

Companiganj is among the worst-hit areas of the flood. Flood water receded in the Compainganj on Monday but the upazila town was still flooded with knee-deep water.

Housewife Kalpana Begum of Companiganj’s Shawkat Nagar took shelter at the government model high school in the Sadar uapzila on Thursday afternoon. She said her tin-roofed house, furniture, clothes, chickens, ducks and rice have all been washed away.

Kalpana’s husband is a truck driver. The owner of the truck gave them some dry food, rice and lentils. Also, a person had given dry food and biscuit on Sunday. Kalpana’s family is living on these.

Companiganj upazila’s vice chairman Ayesha Akter visited the shelter centre at the government model high school yesterday. She said the government’s relief goods have started to come but are inadequate.

Saying that only 200 persons were given food relief through her in the last five days, the vice-chairman added that efforts are on to increase the allocation in relief activities.

The ground floor of Companiganj government model high school shelter centre was flooded with knee-deep water on Monday afternoon. The flood victims were crammed in three rooms on the first floor and two on the second floor. The benches of the classrooms are being used as makeshift beds. Some were seen trying to cook in makeshift stoves but there is an acute crisis of fuel. There are only two toilets in the building. Some livestock and ducks have been sheltered on the staircase to the roof.

Sokhina Begum of Kathalbari village of Islampur union has taken shelter on the second floor. Sokhina said she collected three sacks of rice from people before the flood but now these are washed away.

The people who took shelter in the under-construction fire service building are going through the same sufferings. People have to defecate in open place since all the six toilets in the building are still under construction.

Around 300 people took shelter in the eight rooms in Telikhal government primary school building. The toilet of the school is inundated.

Jamia Begum, a women sheltered in the school, told Prothom Alo that women are suffering most because of the want of toilets.

Apart from the people in shelter centres, the people living in their houses are also hit hard by the food crisis.

Abdul Karim, a resident of South Burdeo village, told Prothom Alo on Monday that they are living on whatever they have as they did not get any assistance.