Even though various organizations have collected enough food for the fire victims to keep going for around two months, problems related to their shelter has become worst, according to locals. [break]
"Families with over a dozen members each are living in crammed conditions under one tent provided by social organizations and they have to spend sleepless nights due to mosquito bites," said a local. "They just have one tent and they have to make space also for food items and belongings,” he added.
Adding to their woes, another local, Shekh Thaga, said the fire victims are suffering from illnesses including diarrhea and cold lately. "A recent rain that formed pools of stagnant water have invited mosquitoes and disease,” said Thaga, a social worker who has been helping the fire victims.
The food items are there but cooking them has become impossible for them as they lack sufficient firewood, informed another social worker Shekh Majhar Alam. "They have been surviving on beaten rice and salted peanuts," said Alam.
Worried about their plight, a local health worker Krishna Mani Sah emphasized the need for immediate arrangement of safe shelter and mosquito nets to all fire victims.
"The scorching heat chases everyone out of the tents during the afternoons and the mosquitoes bite them all night. The condition here is unbearable," said Sah.
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