The rich, the poor, the students and volunteers are giving their all to provide, collect and coordinate relief for flood-affected people. But access, coordination issues and other risks are still making their task extremely difficult.
A small child came to TSC at Dhaka University. He had saved Tk14,500 for Umrah. But he came to donate it all to the flood-affected people in southern Bangladesh.
A disabled beggar, who can neither speak, walk straight or hold anything properly due to his physical constraints, walked to a donation booth. He somehow grabbed his day’s earnings from his alms bowl, and put the money into the collection box. It was barely Tk20 or Tk30; but, he poured his heart out.
If you go to TSC today, you will only see a sea of people, bringing food, clothes, money and other relief for the flood-affected people. Volunteers are giving their all to coordinate, calculate, and store the goods. Trucks are leaving, full of volunteers and relief. You will be surprised to see the resolve in their faces.
On 21 August, a flash flood caught the nation off-guard, stranding as many as 944,548 families in eleven districts. At least 49.38 lakh people have been affected in the flood. Eighteen people have died so far. At such a dire time, the people have come together to assist the interim government and the armed forces to support the affected people.
From the very beginning, the students of Dhaka University have been active in relief work, hence, TSC became a hub of collection. There was a sense of brotherhood around, so much so that my rickshaw-puller did not take any money when I told him that I am from a newspaper, here to see the volunteers.
“Write about them and let the people know about these kids,” he smiled and said, “I am but a poor man. Consider it my contribution.”
Ashrefa Khatun, one of the coordinators who has been overseeing the funds, has been working since the first day.
“I was here when the child came to us with his savings for Umrah,” she said, “It melted my heart! And not just him. There were many other kids who brought their piggy-banks. You could tell that they have been saving that money for something for a long time. Yet, they were giving it away.”
She showed me the table full of small piggy-banks, “Not just the children, even adults are bringing their piggy banks. We collected 16 piggy-banks yesterday. Today, there’s more.”
Showing me the meticulous collection chart that tracks the donations, she said, “Till last night, we collected Tk1 crore, 8 lakh, 23 thousand, 947. If you add the donations that came through mobile financial services or bank accounts, it is more than Tk2 crore, 42 lakh.”
I saw a number of people who are just donating money, not disclosing their names or identity. The volunteers tried to take their names for entry, but they were adamant on staying anonymous.
Ashrefa said, “This morning, a man came and donated Tk2 lakh, but he did not say his name. He was following the rule — Donate in such a way so that if you give the money with your right hand, the left hand doesn’t know about it.”
Coordination is a herculean task for such a massive relief operation. There is a human chain that passes the relief from the gate to the games room and the field, and there was no empty spot in between. Such is the size of relief collected.
“How are you guys managing such a volunteer force? Are you facing any problem?”
She replied, “No, the volunteers are too dedicated to cause any trouble. We have university students, school-kids, college-goers, even professionals helping us.”
She showed me a rickshaw-puller who has been working with them for three days now.
“That mama is feeding us everyday from his own pockets,” she said, “Can you imagine that?”
Thousands of volunteers are moving out to remote areas of Feni, Chattogram, Comilla, Lakshipur, Rangamati, and Khagrachari. Day and night, trucks are on the way.
Rafij Khan, a journalist and social worker, has been working in Comilla and Feni with his team.
He said, “The plea for help has stirred the nation, so you could see people rushing to the affected areas. But the fact remains that there has been some trouble in communication between the local administration, police and the armed forces personnel and relief workers. Hence, those who need relief the most sometimes are deprived of it; as not everybody can manage boats or trawlers. Most people cannot even afford a lifejacket.”
“So, many volunteers have relief, but they are unable to find needy people to help them.”
“More support from the local administration is necessary, otherwise it is not working out for us,” he added.
More coordination is needed to manage the vast relief goods. Anika Bushra, Arts Program Coordinator at the British Council, has been in contact with organisations and companies to receive more funds under their CSR program.
“I am working to find out water purification tablets. I am also looking for carbolic acid and torchlights. Also, the women in the flood affected regions need sanitary napkins. So, we are trying to send belt-system sanitary napkins to them. A number of teams are looking for pads only.”
“Baby food is needed more now. For common people, buying bulk baby food or formula milk is hard, as they are costlier. So we need big companies to step forward.”
Since most of the areas are still under water, boats are needed. But, most of the volunteers cannot manage boats. So, they are left stranded.
“Some people are bringing boats as well,” Rafij said, “But it is not feasible. If the government can provide us with boats, speedboats, trawlers, or at least lifejackets, we can even reach remote areas.”
Remoter areas are indeed getting less attention.
Saif Ahmed Shuvo is a student who is conducting relief work in Lakshipur. He said, “The people in remote areas did not get any relief. They are stuck on their roofs, as at places, water is chest-high. And some people did not get relief as their houses were yet to drown, so the volunteers ignored them. We were one of the two teams to reach the remote char areas.”
Uting Marma is working in Baghaichhari, Rangamati. He had to travel by boat for eight and a half hours to reach there from Rangamti town. The road network has been obliterated due to the flash flood and heavy rainfall.
“It is a horrible situation here. A minimum of 5,000 families are trapped. A lot of the places are still under water,” he said in a worried tone, “There is no network in the Maini area as well. We are afraid that if it rains for two more days, many people might drown and die.”
“Luckily, there has been no rain for the last two days. But Kaptai Dam is almost at its high point. If the water has to be released, it will be a catastrophe. Due to the Matamuhuri River, clogged water can leave Khagrachari more easily than Rangamati.”
Compared to Rangamati, Khagrachari has received better relief. Baghaichhari received its first batch of volunteers today (24 August).
“We need the basic commodities like rice, lentils, onions, peppers, and oil. We also need sanitary napkins, candles, fuel. Electricity is scarce as many poles have been washed away. There is hardly any mobile network, so communication has been cut off. We are in dire need of these items.”
That is not all. Even though there are a lot of basic commodities like food and basic medicine for the flood-affected people, there is an acute shortage of female hygiene products, baby food, carbolic acid, water purification tablets, and torchlights.
Magfi Reza Siddique, the director of Daahuk, a community-based organisation for sustainable tourism, and an external advisor of the Rajshahi City Corporation, has been working in Brahmanbaria and Habiganj.
“So far, the situation is improving here,” he said, “in the haor region, the water is coming down easily. But the reason Feni town is underwater is the urban setting of the town. It was not built keeping flash floods in mind.”
“There is enough relief for adults here,” he added, “we need more baby food. The children will be at risk otherwise.”
There have been reports of robbery in the flood-affected areas where armed robbers attacked the relief convoys.
Md Naeemul Islam, a student of the National University who went to Sundarpur, Fatikchari, Chattogram with the team of Rotaract Club Chittagong Waterfall, recalled, “Last night, there were a group of people on the hilly roads who were flashing light on the trucks, looking for relief to loot. We were scared. So, we moved away from that place quickly. It was a remote place where water stood at chest-height. We want to warn the others who are coming with relief.”
When asked about robberies, Magfi Reza Siddique said, “Yes, I heard about some incidents as well. But those are petty criminals and local goons. No need to panic, in my opinion.”