At least five children died in Char Longoria in last one week and over 500 people are now attacked with diarrhoea, dysentery and other intestinal diseases, according local people. No official confirmation of the deaths was available as government health officials hardly visit the areas and health service is virtually absent.

Thousands of landless families are suffering from acute scarcity of drinking water in Char Longoria, Southern Char Clark, Char Uria, Southern Char Uria, Boier Char, Char Zia and Char Bata.

People have to walk four to five kilometres to procure drinking water from tubewells as most of the small ponds dug by the forest department for their people have dried up.

The forest department also fielded some deep tubewells for its men, but most of those are inoperative.

Last 12th March we saw unco-untable men, women and children have collected water standing in a line from

During a recent visit to some of the shoal areas, local people told this correspondent that diarrhoeal diseases may turn epidemic if urgent steps are not taken. They also appealed for setting up of temporary health camps indifferent shoals and supply of medicines.

This correspondent saw a large number of people queuing for water at a deep tubewell at Amran Bazar in Char Longoria. Many of them said they walked long distances with pitchers and other containers to collect drinking water.