The villagers of Matinpur, Chungabari and Boruakandi, situated on a hilly region, 30 kilometre off Juri upazila headquaters are now being deprived of basic amenities like pure drinking water, health and education..

Located near the Indian border, people of the villages had easy accessibility to the nearby markets in the India. Previously, they used to collect drinking water from the Indian villages.

But, the Indian authorities constructed barbed wire fence across the border a few years ago. Since then, the miseries of thousands of people in the three villages multiplied manifold.

About 95 percent people of the villages are poor as there is no scope of employment in the remote areas. As a hilly region, there is no scope for cultivation of any crop or vegetable. People who have land, they produce only seasonal fruits like pineapple and orange. But the producers cannot market their produce due to transport problem.

People of the villages have to depend on a footpath of the local Razki Tea Garden to go to elsewhere including the upazila headquarters. The villagers must have to take approval of the tea garden authorities for shifting any patient to any hospital by rickshaw. When the manager of the tea garden remains out of station, the shifting of patient becomes uncertain.

This correspondent came to know this during a visit to the three villages recently. He talked to several villagers at Chungabari village. Some of them are Gopendra Biswas, Saleh Ahmed, Ajit Munda, Bijli Munda, Saidul Islam and Pakhi Miah.

While narrating their woes, elderly villagers named Shefali Munda, Rahim Uddin, Abdul Karim, Durga Moni Biswas, Rafiq Miah, Abdul Kader, Sultan Ahmed and Kira Moni Munda of Matinpur village said, they are isolated from the mainland. Public representative including lawmaker or Union Parishad (UP) chairman seldom visited them previously except during election period. During polls period, the vote seeking political leaders promised them to make arrangement for development of their areas. As soon as the election concluded, the candidates forgot their promises and never turned back to their villages, they said.

'Our main problem is scarcity of pure drinking water as there is no tube-well or pond in the villages,' they said in one voice.

As the villages are situated on a hilly region, shallow tube-well comes to no help to them. Previously, people installed a shallow tube-well in front of a local mosque by collecting money from local people, but the tube-well remained inoperative as the water layer is far below the tube-well's pipe. Now, the villagers are forced to drink polluted water of Ragnachhara, a hilly stream flowing through the villages. Because of poverty, the rural people are not able to install deep tube-well in their villsges. Even, Fultala UP authorities could not install any deep tube-well for the villagers.

Dholai-Chungabari Government Primary School, the lone primary school in the three villages. The school is being run by only two teachers, There are about 200 students in the primary school. After crossing the primary stage, students have to go Fultola or Botuly high schools, about 11 kilometre off the villages. Students of these high schools start their journey to school from these three villages at 7 am everyday to reach the school on time. They return home at night. On completion of primary education, female students usually stop their education.

On contact with a few more villagers named Muhib Ali, Badshah Miah, Kajol Miah, Montaj Ali Fazal Ali at Matinpur, Chungabari and Boruakandi villages, they said a primary school building, a community clinic and few culverts over the hilly canal were constructed during the previous Awami League (AL) regime, a few years ago but the buildings and tin-shed structures are now being damaged due to lack of maintenance.

Before the 2001 election, a BNP candidate, MM Shahin assured villagers solution to their major problems, if he is elected from the constituency. After his election, Shahin did not go to the villages to see the condition of the villagers, they alleged.

The villagers told this correspondent that the biggest bamboo cluster of the country is situated at Chungabari village. Government is earning a good profit of Tk 5 crore from the cluster annually, but it is a pity that not a single taka was spent for development of the area, the villagers lamented.

When contacted, Juri Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Zakir Hussain said he is aware about the miseries of hundreds of villagers in the areas. 'I am trying to do welfare of the people through UP,' he said.