DCC councillors face people’s wrath

Staff Reporter :
Dhaka’s two City Corporation have continued distributing food items among the needy people and spraying disinfectants on the city roads to tackle pandemic coronavirus (COVID-19).
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) officials said that they distributed food among the poor and middle class family.
But the ward Councillors of Dhaka’s two City Corporations said that they faced public wrath as the relief materials are short of demand.
At least 20 Councillors of the DSCC and DNCC may cover about three per cent families only of the slum areas.
There are allegations of misappropriation of relief materials against those who were distributing.
The lower income people were passing hard time as their earning virtually stopped since March 26 when the government imposed ban on movement of public transports and declared holidays to maintain physical distance to check spreading coronavirus.
Needy people blamed the government for imposing restriction on their jobs on account of the coronavirus outbreak and for not supporting them to meet their basic needs.
Rabeya Begum, a slum dweller in Old Dhaka said , ‘We got some reliefs from an NGO, but nothing from the councillor or any other government agency.’
Mohammad Azhar, a rickshaw paddler from Nayabazar, said the councillors gave reliefs to those who had relations with them or with the local Awami League leaders.
Dhaka district relief and rehabilitation officials said that each of the two city corpo rations were provided 475 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 26 lakh for purchasing and distributing potatoes, lentils, oil, onions, salt and soaps among the destitute families in the capital.
Each of the two City Corporations were also given Tk three lakh as children food.
DNCC’s councillor Saleq Mollah said he faced huge agitation while distributing 370 packets of relief materials given by the DNCC at city’s Bhashantek slum where over 40,000 people live.
“They threw stones at us and used abusive words alleging that we misappropriated the relief.”
The cluncillor said, maximum people are relief seekers in our ward. We are distributed 370 packets.
DSCC Councillor Md Nur Alam said that following distribution of just 200 packets of relief given by the district relief and rehabilitation office, and at least 12000 packets arranged by local MP and Panchayet committee.
But many women gathered and continued agitation on the embankment of Ashrafnagar in Kamraangir Char.
‘There is at least five lakh people in the area and most of them are needy,’ he said.