SA Shofiee, Sylhet :
At least 6.43 lakh people have been marooned in Sylhet’s eight upazilas as flash floods hit the district early Saturday, homes, schools, vegetable fields, fish enclosures, and key roads were submerged in 68 unions under these eight upazilas in the district. The flood-affected people are suffering from shortage of food and drinking water. according to the local administration, low-lying areas in Gowainghat, Companiganj, Jaintiapur, Kanaighat, Zakiganj, Beanibazar, Golapganj, and Sadar upazilas went under water owing to incessant rains and a gush of water from upstream areas in neighbouring Indian Meghalaya State since Wednesday night .As a result , with the Sari-Gowain River flowing below danger level, the floodwaters were slowly receding yesterday in five upazilas that were first hit by the flash floods — Gowainghat, Companiganj, Jaintiapur, Kanaighat, Zakiganj.
As of 6:00pm yesterday, the river was flowing 24cm below the danger mark at Gowainghat point and 34cm below the danger mark at Sarighat point, where the river flowed 33cm above the danger mark around the same time on Thursday. In the last 24 hours till 6:00pm yesterday, 15mm rainfall was recorded in Kanaighat upazila and 19mm in Sylhet Sadar upazila.
Meanwhile, 193mm of rainfall was recorded in Cherrapunji, Meghalaya in the last 24 hours till 9:00am yesterday.
While water levels in the Surma and Kushiyara rivers dropped yesterday, they flowed above the danger marks at three points. With the rivers still flowing above the danger levels, parts of Sylhet city’s Uposohor, Taltala, and other areas were freshly inundated yesterday.
Topkhana, parts of Shahjalal Upa-Shahar, Zatarpur, Sobhanighat, Chhararpar, and Machhimpur areas, most of which are situated next to the bank of the river that divides the city, also went under knee-deep water in the morning, locals said.
Most of the affected families took shelter in the homes of relatives, while many of them took shelter at different educational institutions, including Kishori Mohan Girls High School in the Noyasarak area of the city. About 1,000 rafts, mostly steered manually, were carrying people through vast water bodies to flood shelters opened in faraway places.
The district administration has prepared 550 centres to provide shelter to those affected. A least 3,739 people were staying at the shelters yesterday, compared to 4,802 on yesterday night.
Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Sheikh Russel Hasan said, “The rain has largely subsided, and the overall flood situation is slowly improving, with many returning home from shelters. We have allocated sufficient relief goods for the affected people. We are monitoring the situation round the clock.”
We are keeping an eye on the overall situation. Flood victims are being rescued and brought to shelters and relief materials are being distributed among them. Besides, union-based medical teams have been formed to provide health care in flood-affected areas and dry and cooked food and fresh water are being distributed, he said.
“Considering the flood situation, the number of shelters will be reduced or increased.”