Where has the relief gone?

The flood situation in Bangladesh has adversely affected the lives of some 2.1 million people in 24 districts (99 upazilas) and allegations are being made that authorities are not reaching the affected people. Reportedly, a lot of the people in the various affected areas have been left off the list of flood-hit populace. Although the concerned ministry claims that it is doing the utmost to distribute rice, packets of dry food, tents and bundles of tin across the country, a report in this daily has found that thousands of people, cut off in waterlogged areas, remain unemployed and have little access to food and drinking water.

And when it comes to refuting the statement made by an official of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief that it is only distributing materials to those "who really need it", our district correspondents have found, after talking to flood affected people in a village near the Teesta River basin in Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat, that many of them did not get any relief as yet and some have alleged relief being given to affluent families. These allegations need to be looked into seriously.

The flood situation is deteriorating further in the districts of Bogura, Sirajganj, Tangail, Manikganj, Faridpur and Munshiganj, which tells us that more people will be in need of relief in terms of both food and other materials. There will always be those in local administration who will seek to profit from natural calamities, but the last thing the government needs is profiteering from people's misery. Since the government has declared a war on corruption, we hope the anti-graft body will take a closer look into these lapses in distribution so that those who need relief the most, get it.