Flash flood leaves many marooned in Chandpur

Flashflood submerged vast areas in Chandpur sadar, Haimchar and Matlab Uttar upazilas amid onrush of waters from upper-riparian areas, leaving many marooned.

Low-lying areas in the district town have also gone under water surging in from the Meghna river that flows close by. The sudden flooding caused immense suffering to local people.

Over 16,000 families have been marooned for the last three days in char and riverbank areas in Chandpur sadar, Haimchar and Matlab Uttar upazilas, locals said. The affected people are waiting for government help.

There is no flood shelter centre in Raj Rajeswar union in Chandpur Sadar. People cannot come out of their homes for taking shelter in safer places.

When contacted, Water Development Board Chandpur's Executive Engineer, Refat Jamil, said, "There is yet no crack in the body of the Chandpur Town Protection Dam due to the pressure of the floodwaters in the Meghna from upper regions. We are keeping strict vigil over the dam that covers 5 kilometres at Natunbazar and Puranbazar of the district town."

UP Chairman of Chandpur Sadar Hazrat Ali said in his union there are over nine thousand families living in nine Wards. "They all have been marooned for the past three days. They got no government help."

Talking to this correspondent, Raj Rajeswar Omar Ali High School Headmaster Md Shafiullah Sarker said, "Due to sudden rise in floodwaters, all our classrooms and office-rooms are submerged and many valuable papers and documents got wetted.

"In order to open the school after long 17 months, I got all the classrooms cleaned well. But all efforts went in vain. Again every classroom has turned dirty and the floors have been muddied."

He especially mentioned that his school was awash nine times in the past for the Padma river devastating erosion.

Abul Kashem, Chairman of Ibrahimpur Union where there have been about six thousand families marooned for the last three days, said there is a flood shelter centre in Ibrahimpur union.

In Chandpur's Horina Ferryghat, heavy and light vehicles can not move on the pontoon as ram goes under water during high tide in the Meghna river.

In Haimchar Upazila, over one thousand families are also marooned in Nilkomol union, Nayani, Katakhali and Algi areas .

Many fish hatcheries, standing transplanted Aman and betel-leaf clusters have been submerged for the past three days in these areas under Haimchar upazila.

In Matlab Uttar Upazila, many families are marooned in the west bank of the Meghna river.

Contacted, UNO Shariful Hasan said, "We are trying to help them (flood-affected people)."

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