Almost 5,000 people in six villages in Khulna’s Batiaghata upazila face an acute shortage of pure drinking water and food due to river erosion.
Life became miserable when the villages – Sundarmahal, Matbari, Kodla, Shambhunagar, Ruhitmari and Bararia – were inundated.
Many people lost their homes and road communications were seriously disrupted when erosion destroyed embankments.
Zahur Kha, who lives in Shambhunagar village, said he had been forced to live under the open sky as his house was submerged.
“Also, I do not have access to pure drinking water as well as food. I have to go hungry more often than not,” he said.
Debashish Mondol of Bararia village said the woes of commuters increased when large potholes appeared on Bararia-Dumuria road.
“Walking on the road even on foot involves much risk. People are marooned and have no way to get drinking water,” he said.
Sundarmahal village resident SM Shahin Alam, a fish enclosure owner, said at least 1,000 enclosures in Akra and Ruhitmari marshes have gone under water.
“The erosion-hit villagers are voluntarily trying to repair the embankment but the crisis of food and drinking water persists.”
Batiaghata Upazila Engineer Mahmud Hasan said the pitch on a 3km road from Sundarmahal Bazar to Purbamatha was damaged and the authorities had been urged to repair it.
The upazila parishad chairman, Shaharul Islam, said some of the people who lost their homes had moved to the cyclone centre and two primary schools but the rest were living on street.
“They intolerably suffer when it rains. This is a very pitiful situation.”
Ashraful Alam Khan, chairman of Batiaghata, said water was being transported by trawlers from distant locations but the demand far outweighed the supply.
“There have to be immediate measures for preventing further erosion,” he said.
The embankment in Dumuria’s Chandgarh village was destroyed on July 30, inundating the six villages, while the water level of the Ghangrail River increased dramatically.
