Char People in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat: In grip of bitter cold
Braving the bitter morning cold, Majibur Rahman went to his field in Chinatuli char on Teesta river in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila's Rajpur union.
However, with no warm clothes to shelter him, the 67-year-old farmer failed to stay out for long.
"We can't afford warm clothes and blankets. No one come here to donate those as we live in a remote area," he said.
Residents of about 500 shoals on 26 river basins in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram have been struggling as they have no blankets or warm clothes to shelter themselves from the chilly winds and dense fog.
Usually in winter, the government and many other organisations distribute blankets among the needy. However, those hardly ever reach the residents of these remote shoals, they said.
During a recent visit, this correspondent saw 90-year-old Mokshed Ali, living in Ghughumari shoal on the Brahmaputra in Kurigram's Ulipur upazila, shivering in the cold. He was wrapping himself with just a towel.
"Unable to afford blankets and warm clothes, we have been trying to stay warm by burning straws in the morning and at night," said his 85-year-old wife Masiran Begum.
Only 400 blankets have been allocated by the government for this union against a demand for more than 6,000, said Mozaffar Hossain, chairman of Saheber Alga Union Parishad. "The situation is the same across all chars in the union as donors don't want to come to these remote areas," he said.
According to the district relief and rehabilitation office sources, 66,000 blankets have been allocated and distributed in nine upazilas of Kurigram, while a letter was sent to the ministry concerned, seeking 20,000 more blankets.
In Lalmonirhat, 29,000 blankets have been allocated and distributed in five upazilas while 20,000 more blankets have been sought.
"The ministry does not provide special allocations for the shoal people. A special allocation would be greatly beneficial," said Abdul Hai Sarkar, district relief and rehabilitation officer in Kurigram.
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