Shantimoy Chakma, Rangamati||
“Only God knows what we will eat after a week. The Tk 1000 given by the government will provide for only seven days’ food,” said Samor Singh Chakma, an indigenous farmer while receiving the relief money at Thegamukh, a frontier village in Barkal upazila in Tangamati district.
“We have nothing to survive as most of the crops including paddy have been eaten up by rats this year”, he said.
The government relief is too scanty as there will not be any food crop in the hills in coming months, said Gayana Ranjan Chakma and Bhottya Chakma.
They are a few of the scores of victims of the rat invasion in Barkal and other areas in Rangamati and two other hill disticts.
The loss of crops to rat invasion followed a massive flowering and fruiting of bamboo clusters this year.
The CHT affairs ministry has allocated Tk 7 lakh to face the food crisis in Rangamati. Of the amount, Tk 5 lakh were distributed by Rangamati Hill District Council (RHDC) to 453 families in Hupbang, Thegamukh and Kukichhara in Borahorina union. The rest Tk 2 lakh has been allocated for affected people in Sazek union in Baghiachhari.
Each affected family got Tk 1,000.
RHDC chairman Jagat Jyoti Chakma, its member Bihari Ranjan Chakma, along with local Union Parishad (UP) chairmen and members and law enforcers distributed the relief in last few days.
Many affected families are still out of relief programmes in different areas.
Sources said only about fifty percent of the hill people could be covered under the current programme taken up by the government in Rangamati. The rest will remain out of food security, they said.
The government’s special relief programme in Rangamati covers Sazek in Baghaichhari, Hupbang in Barkal and Borthalipara in Bilaichhari upazila. Other parts of hilly areas in Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari are still out of the food safety net.
As a preliminary step, UNDP is distributing 20 kilograms of rice, edible oil, one kg of salt and a rat killing tool to each family in some areas.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) are training farmers in rat killing, said its official Kajal Kanti Talukder.
“After finishing paddy, swarms of rats are now eating banana, ginger, turmeric and other fruits and crops,” said Pulin Karbari of Thegamukh.
Many families in different areas of Barkal upazila left homes in search of livelihood, he said.
About 35,000 families in inaccessible Sazek union under Baghaichhari upazila of Rangamati district are in utmost food crisis. A famine like situation is prevailing there, the village headman said.
At least 200 families in Sazek union left their homes for Mizoram and Tripura of India in search of livelihood, local public representatives told The Daily Star correspondent.
About 35,000 families of five ethnic communities– Chakma, Tripura, Pankhua, Lusai and Riyanglive in 607 square kilometers area in Sazek union. Cultivation and collecting bamboo from forests are their main sources of survival.
Earlier, the ministry of CHT affairs allocated Tk 15 lakh for the three hill districts, which has already been distributed among affected farmers.
RHDC executive officer Tarun Kanti Ghosh said a decision has been taken to allocate 700 metric tones (MT) of food grains for food for work programme in Rangamati. Of this, 300 MT will be distributed in Sazek, 200 in Bilaichhari, 150 in Barkal and 50 in Jurachhari upazila. Other development schemes are also on cards, he said.
Jagat Jyoti Chakma said RHDC along with UNDP will conduct a survey soon to assess the exact number of affected families. World Food Program (WFP) is also contemplating resuming RMP (road maintenance project) projects as a long term assistance program for the affected people.
“We also submitted two projects to CHT affairs ministry. One is raising mixed fruit gardens and the other is goat rearing project,” he added.
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