Bangladeshi firefighters carry a dead body at the site of a landslide in the district of Rangamati on June 15. Over 160 Bangladeshis were killed by landslides caused by heavy rain June 11-12. (Photo by AFP)
More than a week after a spate of deadly landslides hit southeastern Bangladesh, thousands of victims remain in shelters waiting to restart their lives.
Triggered by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, heavy rain on June 11-12 caused devastating mudslides in six districts leaving 164 people dead, dozens injured and hundreds of homes wrecked. About 4,500 displaced people have taken shelter in government emergency accommodation.
Most of the victims are indigenous people from Chittagong Hill Tracts, with Rangamati district recording 115 deaths.
Indranath Chakma, 38, a father of two, has been residing at a government shelter in Rangamati since a landslide destroyed his home.
"We have regular supply of food and clothes here. But we want to go back home and start life again," Indranath, a Buddhist from the ethnic Chakma community told ucanews.com.
The landslide also destroyed his small grocery shop that he ran to support his family. The shop had goods worth 60,000 taka (US$ 750) in it at the time of the landslide.
"I am now homeless and without money, but I want to start over. If we get some help from the government and NGOs, we can rebuild our lives and livelihood again," said Chakma.
Nurjahan Begum, 40, a Muslim from Rangamati lost her husband in the disaster. Now she is in a temporary government shelter with her two sons and a daughter.
Twenty-five years ago, she and her husband moved to Bagerhat district and built a house that was destroyed by one of the landslides last week.
"My husband and a son worked as carpenter to maintain the family, now we have to depend on our son," Begum told ucanews.com.
"Here we have good food and clothes, but we don’t know how long we can stay here," she said. "We have nowhere to go and no money."
In the aftermath of the disaster, the government has deployed emergency teams to affected areas and allocated aid to victims.
Reaz Ahmed, director general of Disaster Management department, told ucanews.com, that the government is providing rice and tinned food to victims.
"For people in 19 shelters, we have provided an additional 10 million taka and 2,000 blankets," said Ahmed who added they are monitoring situation and will provide future help with house construction and assisting people restore their livelihood.
James Gomes, Caritas Chittagong regional director, said they are likewise offering support to those affected by landslides.
"Most of the victims have food aid from the government, so Caritas is providing them clothes and utensils," Gomes told ucanews.com. "We will offer cash handouts of 5,000 taka to 700 families starting next week," he said.