17 die of diarrhoea, malnutrition in 6 Rangamati villages

Of the victims, 10 were in Tuichui and Shialdailui villages, three in Vhuachhori, two in Lonkor, and one each in Batling and Joipui villages, according to Sazek Union Parishad Chairman L Thanga, who is now in the Rangamati town seeking food assistance from the district authorities.

He said people in the mountain villages are tribesmen who depend on jhum cultivation. Yields from jhum becomes exhausted before June.

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Every year the villagers face acute food crisis during May-June and try to survive on 'wild potato', bamboo roots and other uneatable things collected from forests.

Last year also, the jhum yield was bad, causing malnutrition and diarrhoea, he said.

The UP chairman said, he along with three UP members informed Major Moazzem, BDR commander at Marrissa and Baghaichhori Upazila Nirbahee Officer Musharof Hussain in mid-May about the food crisis.

Being informed, Rangamati deputy commissioner allocated five tonnes of foodgrains on May 22 on an emergency basis but no medical team was set there, he said.

"Now malnutrition gripped the villages and there are diarrhoea patients in every house", L Thanga told The Daily Star.

He demanded emergency food assistance and urged the district administration to send medical teams to the area. Otherwise, there will be a diarrhoea epidemic, he said.

When contacted DC Jafar Ahmed Khan said, "Five metric tonnes of foodgrains were allocated two weeks ago and I do not know the recent developments".