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Slum dwellers

11 October 2005, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Yasmin Chowdhury, Dhaka
11 October 2005, 18:00 PM
. PHOTO: AFP
Famine, flood, river erosion, torture by the upper/richer classes and joblessness force the poor to leave their village homes in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Then they start living in Dhaka city. We see them mostly beside the railway lines in Kamlapur etc. At night many of them sleep in the railway station platforms. Most of the slums of Dhaka city lack proper drainage and have no electricity or gas. Slum dwellers work as day labourers, rickshaw pullers, masons, and vegetable vendors. Despite the crucial role that they play, slum dwellers are one of the most neglected and disempowered sections of society in Bangladesh.

For the last couple of years, the slum dwellers have suffered considerably and are subject to many threats. Part of a slum was burnt in an arson attack, and most parts of that slum were again severely burnt down a year ago, resulting in casualties and loss of assets.

Children, who live near the railway stations, have to live dangerously. Any time they may face fatal accidents. Extreme poverty forces them to indulge in criminal activities.

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We find that the authorities concerned sometimes take the initiative to evict slums dwellers, but they don't take the future of these people into consideration. So the problem persists.