Third round of flood batters life in Sylhet

Some parts of Sylhet have been flooded again, the third round in 35 days, due to heavy rains for the last couple of days and onrush of upstream water.

The water level of various rivers including the Surma and the Kushiyara are rising rapidly, causing fear about inundation of more areas.

The fresh spell of flood has already inundated three upazilas- Kanaighat, Jaintapur,Gowainghat and Upasahar area of Sylhet city, causing immense sufferings to its residents.

Sylhet recorded 79mm of rain in three hours from 3pm to 6pm on Monday. Rain continued on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

According to Sylhet district administration’s flood situation report of Monday night, although there was no fresh flood in Sylhet metropolis, 35 villages in Sadar upazila have been flooded again. In the remaining 12 upazilas, over 7 lakh people of 1,081 villages are still marooned.

Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, India, also experienced heavy rainfall. Heavy rain in Cherrapunji and Sylhet led to rise in the water level of the rivers in Sylhet.

Assistant Meteorologist of the Meteorological Department, Sylhet office Shah Sajib Hossain said 156.4mm rainfall was recorded in 12 hours from 6am to 6pm on Monday.

More than 700,000 people are still marooned due to the second phase of flood. The flood situation may deteriorate in the next four days as meteorologists are predicting more rains.

On May 27, flood hit Sylhet, leaving over 10 lakh people marooned and it lasted for two weeks. Sylhet was flooded again on June 15 before the first flood water receded completely. On the day of Eid-ul-Azha on June 17, several lakh people in all the upazilas of Sylhet and the city got waterlogged due to heavy rains. Then the water began to recede but the pace was very slow.

The third round of flood hit Sylhet on July 1 before the end of the second flood.

Dipak Ranjan Das, executive engineer of Sylhet Water Development Board, the flood situation may worsen further due to heavy rains.