Coronavirus fallout: Many living without a day’s meal in Bandarban

A number of families in remote villages of five upazilas in Bandarban are going hungry as their food supply is dwindling and there is no sight of relief coming their way following the coronavirus shutdown.

In Kapru Para village of Lama upazila, nearly 30 families are in severe food crisis. Many are having to forage in the nearby areas to find subsistence, reports our Bandarban correspondent quoting Ing Chong Mro, karbari (chief) of Kapru Para.

Pekru Mro, an elderly woman of Kapru Para village said she is surviving on wild potatoes for the time being.

"Nobody has come to us with help. And the villagers cannot go outside as the entire village went into self-isolation by putting up bamboo gates at all entry points for the last two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic," Ing said.

Many such villages in Lama, Thanchi, Alikadom, Ruma and Rowangchhari upazilas have not received any relief from the government during the shutdown, the chiefs of different villages alleged.

In Thanchi's Sekdu Mouza, at least 300 families are suffering from an acute food crisis, said Ba Thowai Ching headman of Thanchi's Sekdu Mouza.

People in remote Tindu, Remakri, Boro Madok and Choto Madok of Thanchi upazila are also in the same situation.

Md Shamim Hossain, additional deputy commissioner (general) of Bandarban, said, "We along with Bandarban Hill District Council (BHDC) have already distributed 347 metric tonnes of rice among 30,000 families of Bandarban during the shutdown."