With water all around, flood-hit people in Northeast cry for food, shelter
Nine units of the Bangladesh Army started rescue operations in flood-hit Sylhet and Sunamganj districts on Friday afternoon
Over 10 lakh people in Sylhet have been marooned, while thousands of others affected, by the worst flooding in the country's northeast in nearly two decades, with floodwater continuing to inundate new areas of the district, including the metropolis, every hour.
As stocks of dry food are drying up fast, and there is little scope to cook food with no access to safe drinking water, most of these people are passing days in misery.
A halt in electricity supply and disruptions to mobile networks and internet service have only added to their woes.
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The third round of floods affecting the northeastern region of the country has also created havoc in Sunamganj district of the division, affecting several lakh families. Besides, parts of the northeastern districts of Netrakona, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, and Sherpur have also been hit by the fresh spell of flooding.
The latest floods in Sylhet division have broken all previous records, says a press release by Mostafa Kamal, PhD researcher on weather and climate at Saskatchewan University, Canada. Citing the flood monitoring centre of Tokyo University, the press release said 80% of areas in Sylhet division are now under water, while it is 90% in the case of Sunamganj.
The communication system in most parts of Sylhet division has been broken down due to deteriorating floods, disconnecting the region from the rest of the country and making the evacuation process challenging.
The government on Friday deployed army personnel in Sylhet and Sunamganj to speed up flood rescue and relief efforts. Navy personnel also have joined hands.
Nine units of the Bangladesh Army started rescue operations in flood-hit Sylhet and Sunamganj districts on Friday afternoon.
"The troops are working in Sylhet Sadar, Gowainghat, Companiganj, Sunamganj Sadar, Dirai, Chhatak, Doarabazar, and Jamalganj upazilas to rescue the waterlogged people from their homes by boat and take them to safe shelter," said Major General Hamidul Haque, (general officer commanding) of Sylhet Cantonment, reports UNB.
Because of flooding near the runway, authorities on Friday announced a suspension of flight operations to and from Sylhet Osmani International Airport for the following three days, airport Manager Hafiz Ahmed told The Business Standard.
The Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet also has been declared closed till 25 June as flood water has inundated the campus. The decision was made at an emergency meeting of the university syndicate on Friday.
Professor Anwarul Islam, acting vice-chancellor of the university, said, "The campus has been submerged in flood waters after two decades. There is no electricity on the campus. So, classes and exams have been suspended."
And authorities concerned do not give any good news. They forecast the flood situation, which started on Wednesday mainly because of the onrush of upstream water, will turn worse in the next few days as the upstream Indian states of Meghalaya and Assam have continued to witness heavy showers.
According to the numerical weather forecast of meteorological agencies, there is a chance of medium to heavy rainfall (somewhere very heavy) at some places of the northern and north-eastern regions of the country along with adjoining states of Assam, Meghalaya, and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal of India in next 72 hours.
Worst flooding in decades
In mid-May this year, Sylhet saw its worst flooding in the last 18 years. But, affected people have claimed the ongoing floods have already broken that record.
Mohammad Abdul Qadir, chief engineer of Sylhet Power Development Board, said in his 29 years of service in Sylhet he had never seen such a bad flood situation.
Water never inundated the Kumargaon grid substation, he said, adding, "But the substation will have to be shut down this time if the water level rises by another 4 inches. This time the flood situation is terrible."
Saidul Haque of Parua village in Companiganj upazila under Sylhet district also said he had never seen such a rise in the water level in his life.
"The entire upazila has been submerged. There is no dry place anywhere. Due to a lack of boats, people are not able to go to shelters.
Suffering intensifies
Azir Uddin, a resident of Barikandi area of South Surma in Sylhet, said, "We have had no electricity in our area since Thursday night as the South Surma substation has gone under water. There is no mobile network and no internet connections."
"We are now waterlogged. On top of that, all kinds of communication have been cut off. As a result, our suffering has intensified."
Subal Das, a resident of the city's Kastoghar area, has left his family members at a relative's house in Dariapara as their house is now inundated. "We have been forced to leave our home for the second time in a month. We had to take shelter in a relative's house during the flooding last month. We are facing the same situation again."
Flood-hit people in many parts of the city are also facing a crisis of drinking water because of the snapping of the electricity supply.
Shafiqul Islam, a resident of the city's Taltala area, told TBS that he could not take a bath for seven days during last month's flooding due to water shortages amid a power outage.
"We are facing the same problem again," he said, adding, "There is no scope to even buy water from outside as shops and roads are submerged."
Samusuddin Ahmed of Fatehpur area of Gowainghat upazila has been stranded with his family for three days. The tubewell of the house has also been submerged in water. And yet, they are not able to go to shelter centres.
"Water is all around us. I can't find any boat to go to the shelter. My mobile phone also has run out of battery as there is no electricity, so I can't communicate with anyone."
Cherag Mia, a resident of Haripur in the same upazila, reported a similar problem. "The kitchen is under water. So, we have to stop cooking. There is no dry food in the house either. We can't even get drinking water as the tubewell is submerged. We can't even go out of the house because of flood water."
"Only Allah knows how we are alive," said Cherag.
According to the Sylhet district administration, floods have affected all the 13 upazilas, but the worst affected are Companiganj and Gowainghat. Almost 100% of these two upazilas, including the upazila complexes, have been submerged in flood water.
Dr Mohammad Selim, upazila family planning and health officer of Companiganj, said service activities of the hospital are being disrupted because of the power outage.
"We are trying to provide services with the help of generators. But, it is not possible to run various equipment including X-ray machines with the help of a generator. So, these services are halted. Moreover, the generators are running out of oil. And it is not possible to bring oil from outside because there is water all around. If this situation continues, our services will be further disrupted. Human suffering will increase."
Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Md Mojibur Rahman said flood-hit people in many areas are unable to come to the shelter centres due to a lack of vehicles. The Army and Navy have started working to rescue the stranded people in Companiganj and Gowainghat upazilas.
"None of our educational institutions is empty now. Most of them have gone under water, while the rest have been made shelter centres. As a result, teaching activities have to be stopped in almost all the educational institutions outside the city."
The situation in shelter centres also is not anything to feel upbeat about.
Terab Bibi, a resident of a colony in the Chharrapar area of Sylhet city, has taken shelter at the Ramkrishna Primary School in Chalibandar area.
"There is no food here. There is scope for cooking either. So far, no one has provided us with any relief goods. I could not give any food except some puffed rice to my children since morning. How will we stay here in this situation?" she lamented.
Not only in Sylhet, but houses in different areas of Sunamganj including Nabinagar, West Teghoria, and North Arpin Nagar, have also submerged in flood water.
The water level of the River Surma increased 26 centimetres in 24 hours at Sunamganj point. The river there was flowing 50cm above the danger mark on Thursday afternoon.
Flood situation in Netrakona
Incessant raining over the past few days and onrush of upstream water have flooded many areas in the Durgapur and Kalmakanda upazilas of Netrakona, leaving people confined in their homes. Shops and markets have been shattered and many roads submerged. Everyday wage earners have become jobless.
Netrakona DC Anjana Khan Majlish told TBS, "We have opened educational institutions to provide shelters to the flood-hit people. So far, we have taken preparation to over 100 shelters in the two upazilas. People have already started to come to some of the shelters."
The DC also said the district administration has allocated 20 tonnes of rice, Tk2 lakh, and 1000 packets of food for the flood-hit people of the two upazilas.
Lalmonirhat and Kurigram
Around 10,000 people in five upazilas of Lalmonirhat got waterlogged as the Teesta River swelled due to incessant heavy rains and was flowing 14 cm above the danger level on Friday, reports UNB.
Besides, water was flowing 3 cm above the River Dharala in Kurigram district according to the officials of the Water Development Board (WDB).
Mizanur Rahman, executive engineer of Lalmonirhat WDB, said that the water level of Teesta and Dharla rivers is increasing gradually due to continuous heavy rains and onrush of waters downstream.
"We are trying to control the water pressure by opening all the gates of Teesta Barrage. It is unknown at this time what we will do after leaving the post. However, the water may rise further," Mizanur informed.
Sherpur
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 Friday afternoon.
WDB engineer Shahjahan said, "Heavy rains in the last two days in Meghalaya and Assam in India have caused flooding of mountain slopes in the bordering rivers. About 30,000 people in the area have been stranded in the floods."
