Just a couple of hours of downpour is enough to make the lives of those living along the Bhabdah beel in Jashore’s Monirampur upazila miserable.
But this year, the monsoon rains have been particularly unkind to the residents of the 80-plus villages along the beel. The root of the problem is a poor drainage network.
With clogged drains and the onrush of hill water leading to massive waterlogging in these villages, hundreds of families have been rendered homeless.
Some of these families are now living in makeshift huts along the busy Manirampur-Nawapara road waiting for the floodwaters to recede.
UNB recently visited three such villages — Sujatpur, Bajekultia, Hatgacha — as well as the Manirampur-Nawapara road to witness the plight of these displaced families.
In the villages, we found affected residents wading through the squalid waters to reach their homes — posing high public health risk to the entire region.
At the makeshift huts, the situation was not much different. Bereft of clean water, the displaced families were left with no option but to wash their utensils in this dirty water.
Both in the villages and at the camps, we found the affected families grappling with drinking water crisis.
“We are facing an acute shortage of pure drinking water. As waterlogging persists, the fear of water-borne diseases looms,” said Narayan Mallik, a Hatgacha resident.
Their repeated pleas to the authorities concerned, the residents claimed, have only fallen on deaf ears. “The authorities seemed to be least bothered,” said Kartik Manda.
Local UP chairman Shekhar Chandra Roy, however, assured that steps would be taken to install a deep tubewell in the region soon to mitigate the sufferings of the people.
When contacted, Syed Zakir Hossain, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer, said the local public health department has been asked to take steps immediately.
Source: United News of Bangladesh