PINAKI ROY with ANWARUL HAIDER

Nineteen-year-old Sajjad Hossain had no alternative but to start building a new thatched home for his two sisters, mother and himself since their house was swept away by a flood four months ago in Pashchim Aloka village, situated on the banks of Muhuri river in Feni’s Parshuram upazila.

Initially, they opted to live in his grandmother’s house in Gutuma village, around 12km away from their own, after the devastating flood hit in August.

“Within a few hours of rain, the embankment on the river broke down and the water entered our home. At first, we took shelter in a neighbour’s under-construction house. After staying there for a few days, we moved to our grandmother’s house.”

At that time, some government officials visited the Pashchim Aloka village, while some non-government organisations listed the flood-hit victims, including Sajjad and his family.

“We initially received some food assistance and were given Tk 12,000 collected by eight separate sources… But nothing since then.”

After a four-month wait for proper assistance and relief, Sajjad took it upon himself to build a house on the yard of their previously destroyed house. He took help from his neighbour Md Liton Mia -- another victim.

Visiting the yard earlier last month, this correspondent saw Sajjad, a diploma student of electrical engineering, working on the thatched house with Liton.

“We couldn’t recover anything from our old house except for some corrugated tin sheets from the rooftop. We’ve started afresh and bought everything for this new house,” he told The Daily Star.

He added that his mother had to borrow money from relatives so that The

SEE PAGE 2 COL 1