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City lowlanders miss trawlers of survival

BISHAWJIT DAS
Thousands of desperate people in small boats set off for relief trawlers once they come in sight in the hope of finding something for their survival in the lowlands of Dhaka after weeks of devastating monsoon flooding.
"Many of them get scant relief, some return to their submerged houses empty-handed," said a local resident.
"Both my hands are aching for paddling throughout the day for a pack of chira (beaten rice) for my 12-member family," said Hasina.
"Come and see what floodwaters have caused to my house," she said, adding, "Raging floods have washed away half of my house. Although the water is receding, I still live in waistlevel water."
Most people in the lowlands of Khilgaon, Badda and Demra are still
reeling from hunger, waterborne diseases and lack of shelter and many of them blamed inadequate relief and mismanagement in the distribution of whatever relief is available for their miseries.
Although floodwaters have receded in most places in Dhaka, the areas around Hatijheel Khal and the Balu river are still under 5 feet to 20 feet water. Local residents think the floodwaters will take another 20 days to dwindle from the areas.
Abdul Latif, a fish trader at Nasirabad in Khilgaon, said about 2 feet of floodwaters subsided from his house in the last week, but it would take almost a month to get his homestead dry.
People in Aftabnagar, Indiliah, Nasirabad, Trimohini, Baghpara and Ghurnagharbagh villages around Hatirjheel Khal and the Balu said a
large number of relief trawlers sailed past them, without stopping at their flood-hit villages.
"We call out for help, but our words fall to their deaf ears," said Solema, a resident of Aftabnagar, adding, "We got our last relief supplies seven days ago."
Like Solema, about a hundred women and children milling around on river banks for relief, asked this correspondent to inform the local administration of their woes.
Seventy-year-old Romena took refuge in Aftabnagar a couple of months ago after the fierce-flowing Meghna washed away her house. "Please, give me a packet of relief material otherwise I'll starve to death," she told this correspondent mistaking him for a relief worker.
People of Indiliah, without relief since Friday, are planning to block the khal in an apparent attempt to force relief workers to give them help first.
"You can easily assume how desperate we are," said Nur Nahar, adding, "I only got a pack of chira (bitten rice), gur (brown sugar) and ruti (chapati) on Friday."
Hungry Meher Banu with a three-year-old son on her hip angrily asked a photojournalist of The Daily Star not to take any photograph.
"Give some food to me and my kid if you can. People only take photographs but don't come up with relief."
Some trawlers sailing to distant places with relief materials throw a few packets of food to boats approaching nearer and speed past the area, leaving behind hundreds of hungry people.
Half-naked children, men or women on small boats dive into the water to retrieve whatever things they can find.
"After a scramble, I managed to attract the attention of a trawler but the food they threw at me sank in the river," said Shahida.
She lost her house, cattle and hope to the swollen river at the height of the flooding.
"If they drop relief in a place like this house, we'll all share them without a scramble in the river," said rickshawpuller Chand Miah, pointing a finger to a house on the riverbank.
People in the area put up a high platform to shelter their cattle and amassed water hyacinth on the river bank to feed them.