C T Online Desk: The overall flood situation in Sylhet and Rangpur regions worsened further on Wednesday due to heavy rainfall and an onrush of water from upstream across the borders while the official death toll from the calamity reached 88.
Rainwater submerged the low-lying areas of Sylhet city and remote areas of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts again just after the floodwater receded from the affected roads, marketplaces and homesteads in the past few days.
The Directorate General of Health Services reported a death due to the flood in the Netrakona district Wednesday, raising the official flood death toll between May 17 and June 29.
In Rangpur division, thousands of people in five districts were affected, with floods submerging their homes and land as the trans-boundary rivers Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar swelled further due to heavy rainfalls upstream in India.
Residents of the Sylhet city told New Age that many streets of different parts, including Shahjalal Upa-Shahar, Mendibag, Kalighat, Chhararpar, Ghasitula, Kanishail, Bagbari, Taltola, Machhudighir Par, Jamtola, Bilpar and Sagardighir Par in the city went under water again amid heavy rainfall on Tuesday night, New Age staff correspondent in Sylhet reported.
Shops and residential houses in the areas also were submerged for the second time in two weeks, intensifying the suffering of the city dwellers, they said.
Sarwar Hossain of Shahjalal Upa-Shahar told New Age on Wednesday that water receded from his house only two days ago after twelve days during the recent spell of the flood. .
He said that he was unable to express the troubles he had to face after flooding in his house and the endeavour he had to take to overcome the situation.
‘I just cannot imagine how I can clean the filthy water once again within three days,’ Sarwar added.
Sajal Das, a trader of the city’s largest wholesale business Kalighat, said that at the noon floodwater receded from his
shop on Monday before it came back again on Tuesday night to inundate his shop.
‘It’s not only me, no businessperson in Kalighat will be able to overcome the losses they have suffered in this year’s flood,’ Sajal said.
Sylhet City Corporation chief engineer Nur Azizur Rahman said that water-logging was taking place in different parts of the city with a short spell of rain since the water channels, including the Surma and more than 15 canals were already full of floodwater.
‘The rainwater, however, started to recede immediately after ending the rainfall on Wednesday early morning,’ he said.
Water Development Board said that the Surma marked a rise of water level by 29 cm and 16 cm on Wednesday noon at Kanaighat and the city respectively while it was flowing 60cm over the danger level at Chhatak in Sunamganj.
The Kushiara was flowing 113 cm above the danger mark at Amalshid at Beanibazar and 42 cm above at Shewla in Jakiganj in the district, the WDB said.
WDB Sunamganj executive engineer Zahirul Islam said that alongside the torrential rainfall in upstream Indian territories, 170mm rainfall was recorded at Chhatak and 35 mm at Sunamganj town in the past 24 hours, resulting in inundation of many low-lying areas from where the floodwater had just started to recede after two weeks of devastating monsoon flood.
Vice-chairman of Sunamganj’s Doarabazar upazila, one of the worst affected areas of the district, Rafiqul Islam, told New Age that almost 95 per cent of the area had gone underwater in the recent flood that hit on June 15, damaging all kinds of household belongings, and stored rice and boro paddy meant for maintaining yearly demand of food of the rice grower families.
‘The floodwater started to overflow the roads and earthen pathways of the rural areas at a time when the affected families just returned or were taking preparation to return home from shelters,’ he said.
People of the flood-affected areas, especially in the Sylhet and Sunamganj, alleged that flood-hit families were passing days amid immense suffering in the absence of sufficient government support.
Additional divisional commissioner Debojit Singha, however, claimed that they had enough reserve of relief materials for the flood-affected families and said that they were trying their best to reach government grants to all flood victims of the division.
Until Wednesday, 1,03,505 people are staying at 988 shelters in four districts, including Habiganj and Moulvibazar, he said.
A total of 4,088 tonnes of rice, 75,160 packets of dry foods, 27,99,000 water purification tablets and Tk 5,53,88,000 in cash help have been distributed among the flood-affected families in the division so far, Debojit said.
Over 100,000 people of at least 63 villages in 12 upazilas of five northern districts remained marooned in areas submerged by fresh floods with the situation deteriorating day by day, New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported.
The northern districts along the river Teesta have already experienced flash floods three times before the monsoon.
Amirul Haque, the chief engineer of the Water Development Board northern region, said that 243 houses had been destroyed in the past 24 hours in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha districts.
The Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers swelled further on Wednesday with the onrush of water from the hills and the incessant rainfall of the past few days.
Water Development Board executive engineer Asfaudullah said that 44 gates of the Teesta Barrage on the Indian side had been kept open to control the flow of water, adding that the Teesta was flowing 8cm above the danger mark at Dalia point at 3.30 pm.
Rangpur Divisional Commissioner Abdul Wahab Bhuiyan said that they were monitoring the situation and had asked the higher authorities for more relief for the affected people.
