LAHAN, Jan 23: Golbazar Municipality of Siraha has spent millions of rupees in the name of covering the dust on the roads. However, it has been unable to provide warm clothes to cover the bodies of the impoverished within the municipality. As a result, the winter season every year has become a disaster for them.
In Golbazar-11, near Balakwan, there are 40 huts and sheds of Sukumbasi (landless squatters) Musahar, under the Mainawati Bridge. One of these huts is where Sumitra Sada lives. She spends her days and nights in the hut covered by a tattered sari, trying to block the cold western wind. She said “It feels like this western wind will take my life one day.”
The dew that falls at night makes the hay-roofed hut wet. In the morning, droplets of that dew drip onto the bedding. All the clothes meant to warm the body get soaked. The hay bedding for sleeping becomes cold. “By the grace of God, my life has been saved as of now, “she said, “Apart from God, we have no one to rely on.”
The suffering of Kunti Sada, 40, of Musahari tole, Golbazar-10, is no less painful than Sumitra’s. After the sun rises, she dries the hay used to make the bedding. It has become her winter routine warming the hay in the sun during the day and then laying it back down on the bed at night.
“They said the government would come to your home and the poor would no longer have to suffer in hardship, but it was all false propaganda,” Kunti said, “There is no government that supports the poor, even after the government came to the courtyard, justice has not come for the poor.”
The cold wave is no less painful for Shobha Sada, who lives in Tatribari, located in Murchaiya Municipality-7 of Siraha. She neither has a blanket nor warm clothes to warm her body. The blanket she received as aid years ago has even torn. Just like Shobha, 15 other families in this area of the Madhesh region are suffering. For the past three days, the cold wave has once again swept through the villages of Madhesh.
Winter escapes
The cold wind and cold waves are making the body shiver. While those who are well-off are unaffected, the poor and marginalized communities are suffering. Those who barely manage to get two meals a day through hard work cannot afford warm clothes and blankets to shield themselves from the cold. As the cold rises, the deprived people in the settlements are unable to sleep.
Laxminiya Sada said that when the body is stiff, it is difficult to sleep at night. What should I lay on the cold ground if I burn the hay to warm up? Along with hay, she uses the old clothes to make covers for wearing and sleeping. Sudama Sadai, 60, from Sukumbasi tole, said that she spends her nights warming herself by the fire to keep her body warm.
In the eight districts of Madhesh Province, the poor community experiences greater challenges during the cold weather than the months of mid-April-mid-June (Bhaisakh and Jestha). The winter season troubles the poor community who find it easier to work under the intense heat of the summer sun.
During the cold wave, it becomes impossible to even go to work, said Sudama. Although it is said that people do not get sick as much in the cold season compared to summer, the Musahar community especially suffers more from illnesses during winter due to the lack of nutritious food and warm clothing.
Once the cold wave begins, the local governments think that their job is done by distributing firewood and handing out a few blankets. However, the closest government to the citizens should have assessed the potential disaster of cold waves and fog, identified poor and needy households in time, created an emergency fund, and been prepared for response. Instead of taking proactive measures, governments at the local level have failed to plan measures to deal with the natural cycle.
In order to understand what local governments do to protect citizens from cold waves, it is enough to look at the example of Lahan Municipality in Siraha. On Sunday, the municipality provided relief materials, including warm blankets, pillows, gas stoves, and cylinders, to 60 families in Islampur, Lahan-4, who were affected by the cold wave.
After the cold wave and thick fog affected people’s lives, the municipality in collaboration with the local police has distributed firewood to heat fires in public places. Mayor Mahesh Prasad Chaudhary said that he felt satisfied when he saw the faces of the poor affected by the cold wave light up after getting warmth. He said that this process will continue.
Sunita Devi Paswan of Sitapur, Laxmipur Patari Rural Municipality-6 of Siraha, warms herself in the evening and morning on hay. She is forced to escape from cold waves in one piece of clothing.
Paswan said, “Our only support during the winter is the fire of hay (Ghur). Due to the cold wave that accompanies the wind, impoverished families, including the Musahar community, are suffering. We cannot sleep because of the cold wave entering the house that is made of bamboo. The cold wave is like death for us who have to work daily to earn a living.”
In the Sukumbasi Paswan settlement, the cold wave has added to the hardships of all 78 impoverished families. The lifestyle of almost all the people in the settlement is similar. From sleeping, covering themselves with bedding, to food habits, everything is alike. Their primary means of survival is labor. The men and women of this settlement, unable to afford warm clothing, shiver in thin clothes while carrying out household tasks. “Where will we get firewood?” said Paswan “For cooking, sleeping, and keeping warm, we rely on hay.” They get the hay after harvesting paddy in the landlord’s fields.
In the morning, the wind blows with a fog. At that time, it is necessary to protect the elderly and small children in the poor slums from the cold. As the winter begins in the poor settlements of Madhesh, daily life begins to become difficult.
Hay is spread inside the house as a bedding material in order to protect from cold. On top of it, old torn clothes are sewn together to create a mattress. In Madhesh, the primary method to stay warm during the cold is by sitting near the fire. In poor communities, the clothes used for covering, bedding, and wearing are neither warm nor efficient. The sun provides some relief, but when fog covers the village for weeks or sometimes even months, it becomes challenging.
Similarly, elderly people, women, and children gather together around a fire. In some places, elderly people even sleep beside the fire for warmth, and occasionally, their clothes catch fire. It is not new news that people die due to clothing catching fire in the Terai. It is not uncommon for people to get sick due to cold in Madhesh.
