Flood recedes but life still hard for victims in Bangladesh

Local residents draw water from a well on a flooded street in Sirajganj, 110 km northwest of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 6, 2007. (Xinhua/Huang Yanan)
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    by Wang Xuemei

    DHAKA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Hamida Begum, about 50, does not need to go far away to clean her utensils. She now does the job inside her house as the house is still under flood water.

    Some utensils were floating in the stagnant flood water in her tatty house. Hamida told Xinhua Sunday that the situation has lasted for two weeks and once the water in her house was waist-deep submerging even the beds and tables.

    The low-lying areas in eastern part of capital Dhaka have been hit by the flood due to incessant rain and water flowing from upper stream.

    A dam was created to protect some areas of Dhaka and central Narayanganj, a neighboring district of the capital, from flood, but the dam now has become the roots of all trouble for thousands of people there as it was damaged in the flood.

    Moreover, filling lands for developing housing areas has aggravated the situation. Bangladesh Army Chief Moeen U Ahmed, who visited the flood-affected area, issued a cautionary signal that the government will take action against the real estate companies who filled lands and created the trouble.

    Hamida and her neighbors were seen on the beds even in day time, as the ankle or knee deep flood water is still inside their houses and stagnant water are even 2-3 meters deep in low-lying areas around their houses.

    However, some of Hamida's neighbors have been displaced by the flood with their houses flooded but locked.

    Now, country boat is the only means of transport to the approached roads from the flooded houses. Almost all the families there bought boats for the purpose.

    Due to flood, the prices of essentials are getting much higher than before which makes life even harder for the people there.

    However, they were happy to learn the situation continue to improve in the last few days.

    Meanwhile, the caretaker government is supplying drinking water through jerrycan and other pots, different organizations and army are distributing relief among the affected people.

    The flood in Bangladesh affecting 38 out of the country's 64 districts has claimed 268 lives and marooned nearly 10 million people mostly in the northern, northeastern and the central parts including capital Dhaka.

A local family set up a tent on the roof of their flooded home in Sirajganj, 110 km northwest of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 6, 2007. The current flood in Bangladesh claimed 36 more lives in last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 156 till Monday morning. (Xinhua/Huang Yanan)
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