Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net
Krishnai (Goalpara, Assam): For Jaharul Islam, a 24-year-old resident of Goalpara district, Assam, life is full of uncertainty and the feeling worsens when he thinks of the future of his two little kids.
“I must have to do something at any cost for a secured future of my girls,” Islam told TwoCircles.net at the bank of river Krishnai in Assam’s Goalpara district. The reasons are not unfounded: a spell of flash floods in 2014 swept away the entire area. Luckily, Islam and his small family survived. But in the process he lost everything. “I’m thankful to the Almighty that my little kids are unhurt. Otherwise, we have lost everything. After that we had to spend at least four months under plastic roofed tents on the river bank,” he told Twocircles,net, even as he tried to rebuild his house.
The locals fear that the river, even in summers, can behave the way it did last year.
“I can’t take that risk by staying here. But unfortunately I don’t have much money to buy land and shift my family,” said Islam, who earns around Rs 100 to Rs 200 per day assisting labourers in nearby areas.
This area Bheltapara Ghat under Malandubi Gaon Panchayat is one of the worst affected in the area. The entire area has been hit by devastating floods for the last several decades, with the one in 2004 being especially severe. The residents still remember how 12 members of a single family died on the spot when flash flood covered the area during the night hours.
“This is our life. For the public representatives also we are not that important. We have not seen much of the government officials and the MLAs during the hour of crisis. Besides not all the poor villagers have accessed to the houses under the scheme of Indira Awaas Yojana. The villagers who can afford to bribe Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 to ‘agents’ get the money for the construction. But that is not possible for most of us,” said another villagers.
Under such circumstances, couples like Islam and his wife Sufia Bibi are much thankful to Islamic Relief India (IRI) for helping them in the rehabilitation process.
“We have no words to express our gratitude to these people who have come here as angels for us. We have never thought that we will be able to set up houses of our own in some day,” said Musa Sheikh, another beneficiary.
Abdul Hasib, the emergency service coordinator of IRI, said that the area has been neglected for a long time and the most of the people are extremely backward.
“We are targeting at least 80 families in this area. I have involved some locals to find out the families who really need help. We have selected families which do not have the capacity to re-build their house after the devastation without any assistance. However, the families who have the capacity to construct their houses are not included in our list. We have also left out the families who are listed Doubtful Voters,” Hasib said.
Hasib said that the purpose of the project is to enhance protection of most vulnerable households through provision of disaster resilient shelters and to improve the capacity of communities to prepare for and respond to disasters.
The trouble-torn villagers have welcomed the IRI but their troubles are unlikely to end anytime soon.
“It’s very unfortunate that even after six decades of independence, our people are so backward. Even the political parties also do not give much focus to us. As a result we are lagging far behind. Starting from communication to health care facilities we have numberless problems,” said Abdul Aziz Ahmed, a retired principal of Krishnai Girls High School.
Ahmed also said of having raised the issue of having an embankment in the area for quite sometimes but nobody paid any heed. “But then we have no option. We are waiting for something good to happen to us,” said Ahmed.