C T Online Desk: Flood victims at places of the worst-hit Sunamganj and Sylhet districts on Thursday began to return home to face a new struggle as many have lost most of their belongings to the deluge while food and drinking water continued to remain scarce in both the northern and north-eastern districts.
Affected people, including those in shelters, were passing their days half-fed or little-fed, while facing serious scarcity of safe drinking water, with the prices of essentials going abnormally high.
The health emergency operations control room reported 24 new deaths on Thursday, raising the official death toll to 68 because of the floods between May 17 and June 22.
Of them, 23 were in Sylhet division alone while 20 people died by drowning in floodwaters, two died in lightning strikes and one of diarrhoea.
The flood situation in Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrakona districts may improve and in Kishoreganj and Bramanbaria districts may remain unchanged in the 24 hours until 9:00am on Friday, said the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on Thursday.
There is a chance of short-duration flood in the low-lying areas of Rajbari, Shariatpur and Madaripur districts in the period, the centre added.
The New Age Staff Correspondent in Sylhet reported that the overall flood situation in Sylhet division partially improved on Thursday as the floodwater started to recede, especially in Sunamganj and several upazilas of Sylhet district.
The situation deteriorated in Habiganj and Moulvibazar districts as the River Kushiyara, one of the major rivers in the region, continued to swell and enter different areas of the districts by breaching flood protection dams, officials in the divisional office of the Water Development Board said.
The sufferings of flood-hit families intensified further even after they returned home as most of their household assets, including stocked rice and other foodstuff, were completely or heavily damaged in the floodwater.
Several affected people said that they had lost most of their essential goods, including food grains, in the weeklong flood and were now struggling to survive as the prices of essentials had abnormally risen in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, the flight operation in the Sylhet Osmani International Airport resumed on Thursday morning after a five- day suspension as the runway of the airport were submerged by floodwater, the airport’s assistant manager Nazrul Islam told New Age.
According to the statistics available from the Sylhet district administration, a total of 2,52,878 flood-hit people of 13 upazilas and the divisional city took shelter at 614 flood shelters between June 17 and 21.
Of them, 1,25,131 returned home as the floodwater rolled down in their areas.
Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed and Rapid Action Battalion director general Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun separately visited flood-affected Sunamganj and Sylhet areas on Thursday and distributed relief materials among flood victims.
Sunamganj district relief and rehabilitation officer Mohammad Shafikul Islam said that 1,60,000 flood-affected people took refuge at 620 shelter centres across the district.
‘We were informed from different upazilas that many flood-hit families started to return home leaving the shelters from Thursday morning. But the figure of the returnees is not available to us right now,’ the DRRO said in the afternoon.
Abdul Karim, a farmer of Pashchim Islampur in Companiganj upazila of Sylhet said that he, along with five members of his family, returned home in the morning after floodwater went down from the house.
‘But all of my household goods, including about 1.5 tonnes of rice, which I had stored to feed my family for about a year before harvesting the next boro crops, have been seriously damaged,’ he said, adding that the mud walls of his dwelling house were also damaged.
‘I now see no ray of hope as to how my 6-member family will survive,’ Abdul Karim said in chocked voice.
More than 8,500 families in the upazila have to face the same plight since the second spell of the flooding ruined their all belongings, Companiganj upazila parishad chair Faruk Ahmed said.
Local people and elected representatives of Jaintapur, Goainghat, Kanaighat, Dakshin Surma, Golapganj and Jakiganj upazila of Sylhet district echoed what Faruk Ahmed said.
Water Development Board divisional executive engineer SM Shahidul Islam said that the flood situation had improved in Sunamganj and several upazilas in Sylhet as the water level in the River Surma marked a significant fall between Wednesday and Thursday.
‘Besides the deterioration of the situation in six upazilas of Sylhet, fresh areas of Habiganj and Moulvibazar are being inundated because of a huge pressure of water from the River Kushiyara caused by the onrush from the upstream in eastern India,’ he said.
Sylhet public health department superintending engineer Sheikh Sadee Rahmatullah admitted that the crisis of drinking water had worsened across the region as almost all the tube wells went under floodwater while the water of reservoirs ponds, canals and rivers became polluted.
‘We are now using seven mobile water treatment plants each of which can purify 600 litres water per hour,’ Sheikh Sadee said, adding that they are trying their best to overcome the crisis.
According to the Sylhet division administration’s assistant commissioner Rahat Bin Kutub, 2,97,088 people took shelter in 1,462 flood shelters in four districts of the division till Thursday afternoon.
He said that 3,099 tonnes of rice, 53,750 packets of dry food, 13,42,900 water purifying tablets and Tk 4,03,20,000 were distributed so far among the flood-hit people of the division.
The New Age correspondent in Moulvibazar reported that the overall flood situation in Moulvibazar district had deteriorated due to rising water levels in the River Kushiyara and Hakaluki Haor raising the number of flood victims in the district to about 2,50,000.
Moulvibazar deputy commissioner Mir Nahid Ahsan said that the flood situation in the district had been deteriorating since last Saturday due to rising water levels in rivers and haors.
‘The affected population is about 2,50,000. The number of damaged houses is 13,259. The crops on 4,700 hectares have been damaged,’ the DC added.
The New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that people living in several flood-affected areas of the five northern districts contitued crying for relief as the authorities failed to provide assistance to over four lakh people even after a week of the natural disaster.
Sufferings of people in the area have intensified due to lack of food, pure drinking water and sanitation facility along with the halt in the roads and communication in the flood-affected areas.
Kurigram public health and engineering department executive engineer Harun-or-Rashid said that they had taken steps to install tube wells and repairing the old ones in the flood-hit areas alongside distributing water purification tablets and installing temporary toilets.
Department of Agricultural Extension additional director Amjad Hossain said that some 85,852 hectares of land were submerged by the flood waters along with damaging crops including jute, paddy and vegetables.
Rangpur divisional commissioner Abdul Wahab Bhuiyan claimed plenty of relief materials in stock and they are providing them visiting door to door.
The New Age Correspondent in Rangpur reported that many of the flood-hit people had taken shelters in makeshift houses on high lands and educational institutes.
An official of the divisional livestock department, Badiuzzaman Ahamed, said, around 1,39,000 domestic cattle and poultry have been affected in flood in five districts of the region.
Divisional Fisheries department deputy director Monirul Islam said that about one hundred tonnes of fishes of 1,042 fish farms in four districts— Rangpur- Gaibandha, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat — were washed away, causing losses worth Tk 200 crore.
The New Age correspondent in Feni reported that many people were yet to receive relief as three days of the flood have passed while relief was given by the government and private initiative.
Sushmita Saha, a resident at Uttar Daulatpur in Feni said, ‘We could not go to markets due to water outside our house. No one came to provide aid passing water.’
For 50 lakh people affected by floods since last Friday, the government has distributed 3,220 tonnes of rice, 81,000 packets of dry food and Tk 3.86 crore in cash help, according to the daily disaster report released on Wednesday.
Water levels at 45 river stations monitored by the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre have marked rise while 64 stations recorded fall, reports Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
Among the 109 monitored stations, water levels at 19 stations are flowing above the danger level, a bulletin issued by the FFWC said here today.
The Brahmaputra at Hatia, Chilmari and Fulchari, the Jamuna at Bahadurabad, Sariakandi, Kazipur, Serajganj and Porabari, the Dharla at Kurigram, the Ghagot at Gaibandha, the Atrai at Baghbari, the Surma at Kanaighat and Sylhet, the Kushiyara at Amalshid, Sheola and Markuli, the old Surma at Derai, the Someshwari at Kalmakanda and the Titas at Brahmanbaria are flowing above danger level by 84cm, 32cm, 45cm, 44cm, 54cm, 53cm, 45cm, 40cm, 19cm, 27cm, 12cm, 99cm, 19cm, 188cm, 65cm, 11cm, 77cm,63cm and 25cm respectively.
