11,000 marooned as floodwaters rise in four Upazilas of Sylhet

More than 11,000 people have been stranded in four Upazilas of Sylhet due to the torrential downpours in the past few days.

On Tuesday, Sylhet District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Abdul Quddus Bulbul said: “A total of 10,936 people are stranded in Golapganj, Zakiganj, and Osmaninagar Upazilas.

“About 185 people have moved to shelters. Dry food, rice, baby food, and cow fodder have been provided in the flood-hit Upazilas.”

Meanwhile, the water of the Kushiyara River has risen and flooded new areas of Zakiganj and Golapganj.

Zakiganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), or Upazila Executive Officer, Md Mahbubur Rahman said: “On Tuesday, the Kushiyara River is flowing about 2 metres above the danger level.

“Water is overflowing the dams at various places along the river banks of the Upazila. Twelve families have moved to shelters.

“A total of 57 shelters have been set up. The administration is making all preparations to deal with the situation.”

Beanibazar UNO Golam Mustafa Munna said, “Although the roads in the Upazila are knee-deep in water, traffic is not stationary.

“About 350 families are in waterlogged conditions in three unions of the Upazila. Shelters and adequate relief materials have been allocated.”

Kanaighat UNO Tania Akter said, “The Surma River is flowing 91cm above the danger level at Kanaighat point. Water has entered two unions of the Upazila, yet no houses have been flooded. No one has moved into our 36 shelters so far.”

Md Helal Uddin, chairman of Murshabazar Union of Golapganj Upazila, said: “Residents of every ward of the union are waterlogged. The houses along the riverbank are knee-deep in water.”

The local administration has prepared 60 shelters to deal with the waterlogging in Murshabazar Union. Of these, four families have moved to the shelters so far.

Assistant meteorologist of the Sylhet Meteorological Department Shah Md. Sajeeb Hossain said, “Sylhet has recorded 26.6mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.”

Sylhet Water Development Board Executive Engineer Dipak Ranjan Das said, “The Kushiyara River is flowing 196cm above the danger level at Amalshid Point in Zakiganj and 98cm above in Kanaighat due to runoff from heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya.

“As rainfall decreases, especially in Sylhet, we expect water levels to recede in two to three days,” he said.