As if losing their home was not bad enough, the increasingly cold weather is making it even worse for the former residents of Kalyanpur slum in the capital, parts of which was recently evicted.
“My 50-year-old mother, who is ill, cannot sleep all night because of the cold. She does not let us sleep either as she keeps crying due to her ailment,” said Idris Ali, one of the slum residents, who lost all his belongings when a fire broke out only a day after the eviction drive took place on Thursday.
Idris claimed since the High Court stayed the eviction drive hours after it began, some musclemen of the local lawmakers set the still-standing shanties on fire the next day to clear out the area.
The fire, which broke out in Slum No 8 in the area, destroyed 70-80 rooms before it was put out, including Idris’s room.
Hundreds of people became homeless in Thursday’s eviction drive before the High Court order, but most of them managed to find a place to stay around the city, mostly in Bou Bazar and Paikpara areas, sources said.
However, there are 30 or so families who have not been able to find a place and are living under the open sky, braving the cold.
It is about to get worse for them as the met office said they had recorded the lowest temperature for the season yesterday and predicted further fall in temperature today.
Those living out in the open in Kalyanpur have no preparation for the time when the weather gets worse.
“I have no savings, and all my belongings were lost in the fire. I don’t know where to go. I only see darkness ahead,” said Idris.
