DESTITUTES QUEUE UP WITH DISPOSABLE POLYBAGS, 1998-09-20 (photo)

Destitute women and children in Bangladesh capital Dhaka wait with bag full of disposable polythene which they collected from the city's flooded areas September 20. They will hand the polythene to a voluntary group, Sabujmati, which offered to give three kg of rice in return for one kg of polythene or plastic. Sabujmati launched this campaign to help municipal authorities clear the city's drainage systems, which have been clogged mostly by widely-used disposable polythene bags, delaying discharge of floodwater that engulfed half of the capital for over two months. The water is receding now but slowly. AN/FY/ME