"We're getting something at least to eat, but there's nothing to feed my 9-month-old sister," fumes 8-year-old flood-affected Rahima who took refuge in the flood shelter inside the fire brigade building in Notun Bazar.

Holding the skin-and-bones sister Rashida in her lap, Rahima says she hasn't been able for more than two weeks to get her sister milk. "Where do I get milk? All I can give her is rice powder mixed with water."

She says their mother deserted their father and the four sisters and brothers three months ago for reasons they don't know of. The father, a day labourer, has been without work since the floodwater roiled in the Bhatara union.

"Rashida has a fever and oral infection and is suffering from diarrhoea. We've got oral saline for her but no treatment," says the father, Manik Mia.

The flood-hit, displaced people at the shelter have received rice, flattened rice, puffed rice, biscuit and khichuri in relief, but no baby food has reached them.

Babul Sheikh, in charge of the shelter centre and a leader of ruling BNP's local chapter, acknowledges that they have received no baby food.

At the Solmayeed High School camp, Kalpana said her 2-year-old Antara has diarrhoea for the last 12 days, but she could only administer her oral saline.

Other shelter centres and submerged low-lying areas in the union are also reeling under a severe crunch of baby food, where dusted and puffed rice, suji and biscuits are mixed with water to feed the children and as a result, they are suffering from diarrhoea and indigestion.

The 14 flood shelters in the union house 14,000 people and some 4,000 of them are children. Many have settled on the shacks suspended above the water on stilts after failing to get space at the centres. The flood-hit people of the union have so far received 29 metric tons of rice from the government and many alleged that they did not receive any sort of relief.

Although medical teams at private initiatives are working in the area, hundreds are still not getting medical aid to their requirement.

On way to Comillapara slum by boat, Asma Begum carrying her baby sloshed through the floodwaters to approach The Daily Star correspondent for a 'slip'. " Sir, give me a slip," she said as she mistook the writing pad of the correspondent for relief slips.

Asma said the chairman of the union gave her three kilograms of rice for the family of five on July 29 and since then they have got no relief. Some local people took down the names of hers and many others for giving relief but none of them has received anything, she added.

Chairman of Bhatara Union Mozammel Haq told The Daily Star he distributed whatever relief they got among the flood victims, adding that the relief was inadequate.

"The main problem here is that there is no baby food and medical facilities are insufficient," Mozammel said.