Eid-ul-Fitr will hardly bring joy to more than 7000 families in six upazilas of Barguna district this year, as they are living amid filthy flood water.
Poor reconstruction of embankments was the reason for all the suffering, claimed the residents. They said this year the area was flooded by high tide during the full moon when the water level rose to double the usual height.
The residents along the coastal area are fearful since the embankments in the respective areas were not repaired properly. Different diseases are becoming rampant and the habitat is becoming unhygienic, said residents of Amtoli, Taltoli, Betagi, Bamna and Patharghata upazilas of the district.
Md Habib Miya, a resident of Boro Baliyatoli area of Borguna sadar upazila, said the embankment that was broken during Sidr in 2007 was never repaired properly and as a result, it kept on breaking during every monsoon that followed.
Huge areas including crop land and fish farms have been inundated, he said.
Md Enayet Hossain of the same area said: “How do we celebrate Eid when all our belongings have gone under water? There is no place to cook inside the house. The high tide of the new moon will occur before Eid, again causing massive floods.”
The local administration has made a list of the victims, but the locals claim that the actual number was much higher than that on the list.
Prokash Kumar, an official of the District Relief and Rehabilitation Office, said rice and cash has been distributed among the victims by the upazila nirbahi officers on an emergency basis. The allocation will be increased according to the list of victims.
On July 12, in the wake of the high tide, the embankments under the Water Development Board at around 80 villages of Barguna sadar upazila went under water.