Sanitation is deplorable and water supply is scarce. Residents have to queue up for hours to use the toilets. Tempers run high, and fights and scuffles are common sights as people hurriedly try to get ready for work. Many of the younger people have found jobs in the garment and sari-weaving factories, handicraft units and other small establishments. But many more are involved in the illicit liquor trade, and in petty crime.
Older refugees blame Pakistan for the mess they are in.
After four rounds of repatriation of some 175,000 Biharis between 1974 and 1992, the rest have been left to languish in camps, they say. Refugees under 35 years are increasingly reluctant to share their parents' hopes of migrating to Pakistan. Born in Bangladesh, they want to become Bangladeshi citizens. Our children are now studying in Bangladeshi schools and speak Bangla. Bangladeshi culture is now our culture.