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Monga in the North

Starving people ferret out food

Rafiq Hasan aw/Rafique SARKER, from Rangpur
It was an unprecedented scene at Moubhashi village along the river Teesta in Gangachhara Upazila of Rangpur yesterday noon, as several hundred monga-strickcn people rushed out of their houses to these correspondents just to list their names for assistance.
There was no way one could convince them that the correspondents were not there to make any list for relief or any sort of assistance. They were shouting and pleading to get themselves included on the ’list’.
"Please, write down my name, I did not get any sort of assistance. I am facing hardship and cannot feed my children," said Roksana of Moubhasi village.
• _ Roksana, a mother of three, said none of her children had food in the
morning. Her day-labourer husband has been without money as there is hardly any job during this off-season, known locally as Monga ornear-faminc.
Similar stories were also told by many others in Moubhahi and nearby villages, some 25 kilometres from Rangpur town. They said they did not get any relief from the government or any other organisations. Many of them alleged that the local administration barred army personnel from visiting the villages.
The villages remained submerged during the recent floods for more than three months, prompting people to take shelter in the nearby schools and colleges. They came back home just a few weeks back, but things have turned to be worse forthem.
The floods damaged standing crops in the area and took a heavy
toll on other income-generating activities like fisheries, poultry and dairy farms. The villagers are now waiting for work during harvest, which is around two weeks away.
As the correspondents were leaving the village by a boat, some of the women rushed up to the ghat, pulled the boat behind and declined to let go of them without getting their names listed. They secured their release giving assurance that their names would be listed and they would get assistance soon.
The villagers said that many people living along Teesta do not have three meals a day and that most of them arc surviving on one or two meals a day. Many prefer fasting during Ramadan to starvingali day long.
"I have around two acres of land but despite that I cannot arrange three meals a day," said Zakaria of the same village. He said recurrent floods this year have damaged all his crops. "I planted seedlings three times but all were washed away by floodwaters," he sulked.
Zakaria plans to move to Munshiganj after Eid for work as a day-labourer.
Across the river, people in Morneya village alleged that the government relief did not reach them. Most of the people in the village have been the worst victim of river erosion, having lost houses and other properties to the erosion.
Chairman of Momeya Union Parishad Shamsul Alam however denied allegations of not reaching government assistance to these villages. "Almost all families, except
for mine, got some sort of assistance this time, "he said.
On the allegation made by people in Moubhashi village, Alam said the village was under ward no. five and that ward got 268VGF cards. The army personnel are visiting door to door and enquiring about food assistance to the poor against the cards.
A total of 2,500 families out of a total population of around 40,000 got VGF cards this time. The government also supplied 10 kgs rice against each card, he claimed.
He, however, admitted that there was a shortage of food among the people. "This is because people of this area do not have work during Bangla months of Ashwin and Kartik."