The suffering continues for millions of Bangladeshis as the overall flood situation worsened again on Saturday, with six north-eastern districts – Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Sherpur -continuing to be the worst sufferers.
The situation is particularly dire in the two frontier districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj, where residents have described the ‘worst flooding in living memory’. Even experts were at a loss to foresee the sheer pace at which the two districts have been inundated since Thursday, in close concert with record rainfall witnessed just across the border in Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, in India’s hilly Meghalaya state, which are known as the wettest places in the world.
On Friday, the Sohra region of Meghalaya’s Cherrapunji recorded its third highest rainfall ever in a 24-hour period, with 972.0 mm of rain. It added up to some 2500 mm since Wednesday, its highest 3-day count of rainfall in 27 years.
Mawsynram recorded 1003.6 mm on Friday, its highest ever for a 24-hour period in June. With the waters inevitably destined to make their way down fiercely over the hilly terrain and rivers running downstream into Bangladesh, flooding in Sunamganj and Sylhet was bound to worsen on Saturday, and that is exactly what happened.
No respite from flood onslaught in north-eastern districts
The unprecedented flooding inundated an astonishing 80 percent of the territory under Sylhet district, and 90 percent area of Sunamganj, according to Flood Forecast and Warning Center. Sunamganj lost power even earlier, now the grid has shut down in both districts.
At 6am on Saturday , the Surma River was flowing 128 cm above its danger mark in Kanaighat, 77cm above in Sylhet, and 120cm above in Sunamganj, while the Sari River was flowing 67cm above its own danger mark at the same time.
The water levels of the Kushiara and Jadukata rivers in Sunamganj are also well above their danger marks. All of them are transboundary rivers crossing downstream into Bangladesh from India.
A limited number of vehicles were plying on Sylhet- Sunamganj road as large sections of it went under flood water, effectively cutting off the two districts from each other. Besides, the Sylhet-Companiganj-Bholaganj road went underwater, halting road communication.
Authorities were also forced to disconnect gas supply in some flood-hit areas to avoid the risk of a bigger disaster.
Local administrations have opened a number of shelters, but these have quickly become overcrowded. The inmates of the shelter homes are now crying for food, pure drinking water, and fodder.
The government has deployed army personnel in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts to speed up flood rescue and relief operations.
Already nine teams of the army in eight upazilas of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts are conducting the rescue operation. They were involved in taking the flood-hit people to the nearest shelter homes, said Major General Hamidul Haque of Sylhet Cantonment.
Besides, Army personnel also assisted the local administration to build a flood protection dam in Sylhet.
A 35-member team of the navy has also joined the army in the rescue operation in the flood-hit areas at Jalalabad union of sadar upazila of Sylhet, said Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Mojibur Rahman.
Another 60-member team of navy, two teams of Coast Guards, and two helicopters of Bangladesh Air Force were scheduled to join the team in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has directed the authorities concerned to use all nearby educational institutions as temporary shelters in the flood-hit areas.
In Sylhet, flood water entered the Kumargaon grid power substation at 12pm on Saturday, and the authorities were forced to shut it down, suspending power supply to the two districts. Later in the afternoon, tthe electricity supply was restored partially in some parts of Sylhet city, which falls within the district.
Sylhet Power Development Board information officer Md Mezbah Uddin confirmed the matter to UNB.
A Jubo League leader was electrocuted in front of his house as an electric wire got in touch with the flood water on Saturday afternoon.
Many residents of Sylhet city were seen making concrete walls with bricks and cement at the entrances of their respective houses, as makeshift dams to protect them from flood water.
The low-lying areas of the city have been submerged. People were seen wading through the knee-to-waist deep water.
Meanwhile, rail communication between Sylhet and other parts of the country was completely snapped Saturday afternoon amid the worsening flood situation. Sylhet railway authorities made the announcement of suspending train services around 1:30 pm.
Flight operations at Sylhet MAG Osmani International Airport remain suspended for the next three days at least as the flood waters encroached on the runway.
The flood water has also entered Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, causing immense suffering to the patients.
Physicians of the hospital said the treatment service is being disrupted due to flood water and lack of electricity. Diagnosis also remained stopped at the hospital. Authority has also declared the medical college closed due to the flood situation.
Dr. Moinul Haque, principal of MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, said students have already started to leave the residential halls as all classes and examinations have been suspended.
Flood situation in Sunamganj went out of hand on Saturday as the communication system of the district completely broke down.
The electricity supply to Sunamganj district and its adjacent areas had to be disconnected to avoid accidents as Chhatak and Sunamganj grid substations went under flood water.
Meanwhile, more than one lakh people of Chhatak upazila remained under flood water till Saturday afternoon. People of the upazila do not get any kind of assistance including relief from the administration.
No respite from flood onslaught in north-eastern districts
Netrakona:
The flood situation in the Netrakona district further worsened due to heavy downpours during the last three days. At least one lakh people of eight upazilas of the district have been marooned by the flood water.
The seriously flood-affected upazilas are Durgapur, Kalmakanda, Barhatta, Mohangonj, Madan, and Atpara.
Rail communication between Netrakona district with other parts of the country also remained suspended since Saturday morning as a rail bridge collapsed in Mohonganj upazila of Netrakona district due to flood.
Inter-city train services of ‘Mohonganj Express’ from Netrokona were suspended while a local train from Mymensingh and a Haor Express train got stranded at Barohatta Station and Mohonganj station respectively, causing immense suffering to commuters.
No respite from flood onslaught in north-eastern districts
Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Sherpur
Flood situation in Kurigram district worsened further due to the swelling of major rivers caused by the onrush of water from upstream and incessant rainfall, rendering one lakh people marooned.
According to the local Water Development Board, the Dharla River was flowing 22 cm above its danger level at Setu point while the Brahmaputra River was flowing 22 cm above its red mark at Chilmari point at 6 am on Saturday. Besides, Teesta river water also increased at many points due to continuous rains.
The low-lying areas and char areas of Kurigram Sadar, Ulipur, Phulbari, Nagershwari, Bhurungamari, and Chilmari upazilas went under water while nearly 100 educational institutions have been closed due to flood.
River erosion at 30 points in the district has taken a serious turn and 20 educational institutions and many houses are facing erosion threats.
Around 10,000 people in five upazilas of Lalmonirhat got waterlogged as the Teesta River swelled due to incessant heavy rains and was flowing 28 cm under the danger level on Saturday. A total of 44 sluice gates of the country’s largest irrigation project Teesta Barrage have been opened at Dalia point.
In Sherpur, the Bhogai and Chellakhali rivers kept flowing above the danger level, flooding low-lying areas of 40 villages of Nalitabari, Sribordi, and Jhinaigati upazilas till Saturday afternoon.
Source: United News of Bangladesh