Relief that is yet to arrive

Nearly 5,000 flood-affected residents in Kolakopa village of Laxmipur have been completely cut off by water in the ongoing flood.

Despite this, even as water levels begin to recede, government assistance and relief have yet to reach the village.

Since the fall of the AL regime, the local chairman and members have all gone into hiding.

Lambakhali Government Primary School is the sole government-designated disaster shelter in the area.

Around 200 people have sought refuge there, but not a single government aid package has arrived. Instead, the little food they have received has come from volunteers, mostly student organisations and members of political parties.

Belal Hossain, a farmer from Char Badam village who has taken shelter here, yesterday said he last ate at 8:00pm on Thursday.

He has been without food ever since till we last spoke to him yesterday evening.

This has been the case for him and his family for the past 11 days.

"It's not just me; my wife, my two sons aged 2 and 5, and my 8-year-old daughter are all hungry," he said.

In the last month, Belal and others at the shelter have only received khichuri once. On three occasions, they were given puffed rice and biscuits as relief.

"I have no money. We need food. Who should I tell this to? There's no one to listen to our suffering," Belal said.

All the people in the shelter we talked to share the same hardship, they are waiting for aid that has yet to arrive.

Their desperation is growing with each passing day.

Dilruba Begum, tearfully expressing her frustration, said, "No one has provided us with proper food. No one has even helped us with cash assistance."

She added, "It's been over 12 hours since we haven't eaten anything."

Shefali Akhter, 60, echoed her.

The situation is particularly dire for mothers like Fahima, who broke down in tears, saying, "Even if I go without food, it's not a problem, but my three young children are crying in hunger. How can I comfort them with just words?"

Some, understandably so, reacted angrily when we approached them for comments.

Parvin Akhter said, "Give us food. We don't want blabbering from you."

This dire situation is not limited to Kolakopa alone. Villages like Purba Swarasita, Char Badam, Poragacha, Azadnagar, Harun Bazar, and Hajiganj are also reeling from the flood's devastation, with no relief in sight.

More than three dozen flood-affected people confirmed that they have not received any government relief in the past week.

"We want to eat rice," said Kader Hossain.

"Some students came a few days ago with biscuits and puffed rice. I requested them to arrange for rice, but there's still no news from them."

'JOURNALIST, TAKE MY NAME'

"Journalist, please take my name," said Hafez Ahmed with a trembling voice.

The elderly man mistakenly believed that having his name recorded might somehow place him on a food distribution list.

"I have been starving for the last two days," he added.

Nazir Hossain and Malek Uddin, two other elderly villagers from Kelakopa, stood beside him, their eyes filled with the same forlorn hope.

"Write down my name and details," Malek Uddin said.

"I have no money to buy food. Please leave me some money," he added.

WHEN THE ROAD BECOMES HOME

In Kelakopa, over two hundred desperate people are now living on the road after floodwaters inundated their homes and farmland.

The 10-kilometre road is under threat, with large cracks and cave-ins appearing in several places. All the villages under Ramgoti Upazila have been forced to take refuge on the roads, with no other options left.