A Southampton restaurateur who was caught up in the devasting floods in Bangladesh is appealing for help...

BANGLADESH and flooding have historically gone hand in hand.

Every year seasonal monsoon rains cause mountain torrents to swell the 230 rivers that criss-cross the country's large plains, often resulting in at least some localised flooding.

This year, however, the rains came harder and faster than usual.

And this time a Southampton man was one of the millions trapped by the flooding.

Southampton restaurateur Kuti Miah, who owns and runs the popular Kuti's in Oxford Street, was left stranded.

The father of three, from Highfield, in Southampton, had returned to the country of his birth for the first time in five years to attend his father's funeral. He had only intended staying for four weeks but the torrential flooding left him house bound for another two - unable to leave the country.

His deceased father Alfu Miah had come to the UK in 1956 and brought Kuti over in 1975 where he has since built up a successful restaurant business.

Kuti, 44, said: "These were the biggest floods in memory. It was continually raining for two weeks - the rivers were swollen and they burst their banks.

"Forty maybe 50 per cent of the country was underwater at one stage. I've never seen or heard of anything like this.

"At worst the water was five perhaps six feet deep. Homes were completely under the water.

"I went for four weeks but ended up staying six weeks, you couldn't get out - you couldn't travel the 50 miles to the airport."

Kuti had been staying at his family home in the village of Bagmoyna in the Sunamgonj region. Most of his family live in the UK but one of his sisters is resident in Bangladesh.

He said: "There is no system for relieving the people from the waters. There is no communication.

"There is little help from the Bangladeshi government. I was there for six weeks and I never saw any government help come along."

Kuti managed to capture much of the flooding on video camera. Some of the upsetting and fascinating viewing included a visit by Kuti to a single-storey government town building no larger than half a football pitch, where hundreds of people were literally living on top of each other to escape the floods.

The damage the floods caused to the country and its people makes dreadful reading.

Two-thirds of the country was swamped as the south Asian nation suffered its worst floods in 15 years. Through prolonged periods in July, August and again in September thousands of mud-walled homes were swept away in the currents as entire villages vanished without trace.

The result: an estimated 1,000 people died in weeks of severe flooding and some ten million of the country's 130 million people have been left homeless. The country was hit by another spell of record monsoon rain in September and the damage is still unclear.

Health officials say diarrhoea and pneumonia have killed 350 people, mostly children, and affected 330,000 since mid-July.

An estimated 25 million people are now affected. In the capital, Dhaka, and other population centres the sewerage system has collapsed and 1.5 million people have taken refuge in temporary shelters. Almost 60 per cent of them are children, who are most vulnerable to life threatening water borne diseases.

But it was the out-lying regions that were worst affected.

The damage caused was estimated at £4 billion. The UN has said it would make sure nutritional supplements and extra food rations reach young children and breastfeeding or pregnant women.

The World Food Programme and the United Nations Children's Fund said in a joint statement that without intervention, the number of malnourished children in flood affected areas could rise to one million.

In a statement Morten Giersing, the Unicef representative in Bangladesh, said: "We are taking immediate steps to access the most vulnerable children and women to ensure basic health and nutrition as a life saving priority.

"This is also a critical time for more than half a million pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers who face risk of serious malnutrition."

World events - including terrorist activities, fighting in Iraq and the plight of Sudan in Africa have overtaken Bangladesh's suffering, meaning it has been buried on the news agenda.

Having witnessed at first hand their plight, Kuti is now determined to do something for the people of his native region. He plans to organise a fundraising night, involving his Oxford Street restaurant, later this year.

"A lot of people do not have any food and they are left to deal with it themselves. Disease is also a major problem, there are not enough doctors.

"I managed to speak to a lot of people when I was there and visit some of the buildings that were being used as shelters. People are living in the open air.

"My wish, if I can raise the money, would be to take it there and build the shelters needed. I don't want it going to the government. I'm worried it may not be seen again," concluded Kuti.

FACTFILE:

If you would like to get involved in the fundraising event contact Kuti's on 023 8022 1585 or e-mail info@kutis.co.uk or kieran.fox@soton-echo.co.uk

Look out for further, finalised details of the event in the Daily Echo.