I live near the Jamuna River in a small village. There are forty families in our village. Every year during the rainy season our village is surrounded by Jamuna water.
We have built our houses on the rocky ground. It is much above the level of the surrounding earth.
Last year heavy rains caused flood. We had to vacate our village. We saw big sheet of water all round. Boats were playing in the Jamuna. Many houses were surrounded by rushing water and it was a horrible site.
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Ultimately we were compelled to vacate our houses and we went to our farm where we were safe. The farm was situated at about fifteen kilometres away from our village in the interior.
I saw that many other villages were submerged in water. The people were carrying their luggage in the boats. The Government had called the police. The police helped those whose houses were .standing in the water of the flood.
The Government officers had made arrangement for a big camp. This was arranged for those who left their homes and hearths. Food was freely supplied to them. To save people from the possible attack of water borne diseases all precautions were taken.
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The people in the camp were given medical aid. I remember that for two days we also had to stay there. The condition of the people was very miserable. They had to stand like beggars in queues for food. The poorest people were given food first and people like us had food in the last.
The floods in the river Jamuna caused great loss to the people of affected areas. It spoiled the crops completely. Our village specially suffered a great loss. Nearly all the mud houses were washed away by the swift current of water.
Hundreds of cattle were drowned. When the water receded, the Government gave financial aid to the farmers. The poor people got money to rebuild their mud houses and to purchase some necessary things such as cloth, sugar and food.
We also got some” loan from the Government for buying seeds and chemical fertilizers. Three hundred rupees were given by way of financial aid to us. Now new attempts are being made to check the floods. Government has started to construct embankment along the river banks.
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When we returned we found that many small houses had been completely washed away by the flood. People had built houses once again with the aid of the Government. But we had only to repair the walls of our houses.