Every evening Md Alauddin, a man of nearly 60, sells betel leaf and cigarettes at Chattogram's busy Barapole junction. Sales of Tk 1,100 to 1,200 a day leave him Tk 100 to 150 in profit. He told Samakal that he eats a bun with water in the morning and at midday, and rice with vegetables at night. Six months ago that food cost him Tk 80 to 90 a day; now it costs more than Tk 120.
A bun that cost Tk 10 six months ago now costs Tk 15, he says, and a plate of rice and vegetables is Tk 20 dearer. A former mason who has lived in Chattogram for 30 years, he works as a guard by day and runs his Tk 4,000 betel-and-cigarette trade at night. He used to save Tk 4,000 to 5,000 a month; now nothing is left to send to his wife in Beanibazar, Sylhet. Eating rice twice a day would eat up the stock money, so he tries to keep his food under Tk 100 a day.
Mostafa Kamal, born with one arm and one leg that do not work, has driven an auto-rickshaw in Halishahar for eight years. Working 15 hours a day he used to have Tk 4,000 to 5,000 left at the end of the month; now he has none. His rent has risen from Tk 3,500 to Tk 4,500, his daughter's madrasa fees from Tk 1,500 to Tk 2,500, a Tk 200 vehicle repair now costs Tk 400, and loitta fish that cost Tk 150 six months ago now sells for Tk 300.
His monthly spending has climbed from Tk 8,000-10,000 to Tk 14,000-15,000 while his income has fallen from Tk 15,000-16,000 to Tk 12,000-14,000. On most days the family shares a single fried egg with rice. Unable to keep up, he has decided to send his wife, Suma Akter, and their daughters, aged seven and four, back to the village next month.
The national dietary guidelines say an adult needs 270 to 450 grams of rice, flour or maize a day, 300 to 600 grams of vegetables, 150 to 350 grams of fish, meat or eggs, 30 to 60 grams of pulses and 30 to 45 ml of oil and fat, with 60 to 70 percent of calories from carbohydrates.
Hasina Akter, a former nutritionist at Chattogram Diabetic Hospital, said the body makes no minerals of its own, so all of them, from calcium and potassium to iodine and zinc, must come from food. When those needs go unmet, people gradually weaken and fall ill.
Reporting: Chattogram bureau, Samakal
Photo: Adam Jones / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Samakal
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