Flood in Habiganj unchanged, Moulvibazar worsening

Sylhet Bureau :

The water level of the rivers in Sylhet has decreased a little as there have been no heavy rains in the last 24 hours. However, the water is still flowing above the danger line at four points of river Kushiyara.
The flood situation in Habiganj remained unchanged till Friday morning, while it worsened in neighbouring Moulvibazar district as new areas are being inundated, said authorities.
According to the Sylhet Water Development Board, the water level of Sylhet’s rivers has risen in the last two days due to continuous heavy rains and flash floods coming down from upstream India.
However, the district is yet to see any flood situation. Water was flowing above the danger ceiling at the Amalshid, Shewla, Fenchuganj and Sherpur points of river Kushiyara. It was the same yesterday, Thursday. However, the overall water levels decreased a bit today, Friday.
Meanwhile, the Sylhet meteorological department has said the amount of rainfall has decreased a lot as compared to the past few days. The weather bulletin says some 3.2 mm of rainfall was recorded in the last 24 hours till 6:00 am Tuesday.
Before that, some 214 mm of rain was recorded in the 18 hours from 6:00 pm Monday to 12:00 pm Tuesday. Besides, some 45 mm rainfall was recorded in the 24 hours till 6:00 am Thursday.
Speaking to the local administration and locals, it has been learnt that water levels in different rivers of Sylhet rose due to the heavy rains and flash floods. However, that was not too dangerous. The water level started to recede today as no heavy rain was recorded in the last 24 hours.
Besides, there has been no report of any emerging flood situation in the district. However, there are possibilities of flooding if the flash floods from Indian upstream and heavy rain continues.
Sylhet Water Development Board executive engineer Dipak Ranjan Das said the water levels in different rivers of Sylhet started receding today. However, the water is flowing over the danger line at four points of Kushiyara.
In Habiganj, although the water levels in the Khowai River have slightly decreased, they continue to flow above the danger level at all points.
According to the Water Development Board’s control room, as of 9am Friday, the Khowai River’s water level is 191 cm above the danger level at Ballah Point, 153 cm at Shayestaganj and 165 cm at Machuliya in the Sadar upazila.
The flood was triggered by torrential rains over the past three days and water flowing in from India’s Tripura, causing widespread flooding and breaches in the Khowai Dam at Jalalabad and Laskarpur.
The District Disaster Management and Relief Office said that 22 unions across five upazilas in the district have been affected by the flood with 8,240 families stranded and 33,468 people affected.