BANGLADESH: Tens of thousands flee as floods destroy homes, crops
SIRAJGANJ, 17 September 2010 (IRIN): As late monsoon rains continue to swell Bangladeshi rivers, floodwaters have forced more than 140.000 people to flee their homes and destroyed some 40.000 hectares of farmland, officials say.
– There is knee-deep water in my house. The hearth (ildsted/arne) is full with floodwater. My family did not receive any relief till this morning. My husband, two children and I are surviving on puffed rice that a neighbour gave us two days ago, said Momota Begum of Decreer Char village in central Faridpur District.
– There is no drinking water. No latrines around here. People are defecating (forretter nødtørften) indiscriminately on the slopes of the embankment (dæmningens skråninger), added she.
Government officials say floodwaters have heavily eroded riverbanks and devoured (fortæret) some 80 villages since 9 September, most of them by the Brahmaputra river in the northwest.
According to the South Asian country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), although the situation in the northwest is expected to stabilize soon, officials predict it will deteriorate in the northeast over the weekend.
As of 16 September, the government had distributed 1.135 tons of rice, 27.000 US dollar in cash relief, and 34.150 dollar in house building grants to affected people in 10 districts, Minister of Food and Disaster Management Abdur Razzaque told IRIN.
– More relief is in the pipeline. We will do everything that we can to help those who have lost or left their homes due to the floods, Razzaque said.
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