Heavy rains, rising water levels cause panic among marooned people in Sylhet

Heavy rains and rising water levels have caused panic among people marooned by flash floods in Sylhet.

It rained overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in the north-eastern city after five consecutive days without showers, reports bdnews24.com.

However, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) has forecast moderate to heavy rain, lowering the risk of fresh flooding.

"It has been raining in Sylhet but there is no risk of a further rise in the water level. But mountain runoffs could worsen the situation if it rains in India," BWDB Sub-Divisional Engineer AKM Niloy Pasha said.

"Moderate to heavy rains will continue in the city this week," said Saeed Ahmed Chowdhury, a senior meteorologist at the Sylhet Met Office.

Many areas in Sylhet are still waterlogged, though the situation has improved in various parts of the city over the past few days.

"Floodwaters started receding in the city, but the Teroratan area is still waterlogged. Fresh rains caused a rise in the water level on Tuesday. For several days, people had to travel through the foul-smelling water by rickshaw, and now the water is rising again," said Ahmed Ali, a resident of the area.

The water level in the Surma has decreased over the last few days but it rose in the Kushiyara River, which flooded at least six upazilas in Sylhet.

Most of the areas in Sylhet, including five municipalities and 99 out of 105 unions in 13 upazilas have been flooded since Jun 15.

Many villages in Balaganj, Osmaninagar, Fenchuganj, Beanibazar, Golapganj, Companiganj, Zakiganj, Jointiapur and Gowainghat are still underwater with road connectivity cut off due to floods.

More than 2.1 million people from 16,966 families and 30,940 houses were affected by the floods, Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Mujibur Rahman said.

The authorities are distributing aid to the affected, he added.