Staff Reporter :
At least 10 people have died in Sylhet division due to natural calamities. Of them, three died in Sylhet Sadar, three in Sunamganj’s Chhatak and two in Moulvibaza districts by flood. The two others were electrocuted,
The flood condition may deteriorate in the low lying areas of Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogura, Sirajganj Jamalpur and Tangail districts, while Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrokona districts may remain steady in the next 24 hours, according to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).
The Flood Forecasting Warning Centre (FFWC) said, there is chance of medium to heavy rainfall at places of the northern and north-eastern regions of the country and the waters of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, Ganges-Padma, Dharla, Dudkumar and all other major rivers may continue to rise in the next 48 hours.
The water level of Teesta may remain above danger level in the next 24 hours too.
According to the FFWC, all the major rivers of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Rangamati and Bandarban may rise rapidly in the next 48 hours.
However, people in flood-hit areas are still passing their miserable days without food, electricity and pure drinking water.
New areas of Tangail, Jamalpur, Manikganj, Sirajganj, Kurigram, Gaibandha and Bogura have been inundated due to flood water. Many people have taken shelters on flood protection embankment with their cattle.
The farmers are also facing hard days as they failed to feed their cattle too.
“Water now continued to surpass much above the danger lines in two of the country’s four major river basins. The situation is worst since the 2004 flooding,” FFWC spokesman Md Arifuzzaman Bhuyan told to this correspondent.
“Heavy downpours worsened the flood situation which is gradually deteriorating in northern and north-eastern parts of Bangladesh,” he added.
Monsoon rains and gushing waters from upstream India overnight worsened Bangladesh flood situation with experts calling it the worst since 2004 while officials estimated the flooding to have marooned at least 70 lakh people.
Even, many people were forced to initially take refuge on their rooftops amid gushing rising waters until rescue boats arrived at many places in Sunamganj. The incessant downpours aggravated affected peoples miseries while the deluge by now severed entirely the road links of northeastern Sunamganj district from rest of the country and forced authorities to shutdown the Osmani International Airport in neighbouring Sylhet after water submerged its runway.
Flood waters engulfed several power stations forcing authorities to shut down the facilities, subsequently affecting internet and mobile phone communications as well and due to the shutdowns the entire Sunamganj district remained beyond power supplies for the last two days.
The reports said the power outage forced people to depend on candles and kerosene-lit lamps a situation that soared up their prices at many places.
Bangladesh authorities earlier called out army troops in aide of civil administration in evacuating people or reaching succours to marooned people while navy and air force units subsequently were called out particularly in northeastern Sylhet region as it now appeared as a sea.
“A 60-member navy contingent and two more cruises are expected to join the rescue operations in Sylhet and Sunamganj,” deputy commissioner of Sylhet district Md Mojibor Rahman said.
All the upazilas and half of Sylhet city, and all upazilas and municipalities of Sunamganj district, the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway and the Sylhet-Bholaganj Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman highway are already submerged.
Deputy Director (In-charge), Department of Agriculture Extension Zakia Sultana said flood water submerged T-Aman seed bed on 25 hectares, Aush on 215 hectares, jute on 1326 hectares, vegetable on 122 hectare and green chilly on 30 hectares of land.
Deltaic Bangladesh is crisscrossed by 56 major rivers and several hundred tributaries with hydrologists dividing the country in four major basins, with current flooding first exposed to its wraths the northwestern region covered under the Meghna Basin.
The disaster management ministry officials said the flood hit 17 of the country’s 64 administrative districts under the purview of the two basins.
Nearly 90 percent of homes in Sunamganj are now under water while in Sylhet the figure is estimated to be 80.
Bangladesh saw four major prolonged deluges since 1987 with the last one being in 2004.
Among the 109 monitored stations, four river stations have been registered steady while water levels at 19 stations are flowing above the danger level.
The Brahmaputra at Noonkhawa, Hatia, Chilmari and Fulchari, the Jamuna at Bahadurabad, Sariakandi, Kazipur,Serajganj and Porabari, the Dharla at Kurigram, the Ghagot at Gaibandha, the Surma at Kanaighat, Sylhet and Sunamganj, the Kushiyara at Amalshid and Shcola, the Khowai at Balla, the Old Surma at Derai and the Someswari at Kalmakanda are flowing above their danger level.
