Amid torrential downpours and flooding, a landslide in Sylhet killed four members of a family, including two children, early yesterday.
Hundreds of villages and neighbourhoods in Sylhet and Moulvibazar have been inundated by swelling rivers, upending the lives of residents.
In Chattogram city, officials opened shelters and warned people about the risks of potential mudslides and asked people to evacuate the houses near hills.
The districts along the coastline, especially Cox’s Bazar, Noakhali, and Patuakhali, are still reeling from the damage done by last week’s deep depression over the Bay.
According to a Met Office forecast issued yesterday morning, light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning are likely to continue for five days.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said more areas may get flooded in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Netrokona, and Habiganj districts.
In Sylhet’s Golapganj, a landslide crushed a hut around 2:00am yesterday, killing Riaz Uddin, 50, his wife Rahima Begum, 35, their daughter Samia Khatun, 15, and son Abbas Uddin, 13.
Despite a rescue operation by army personnel, firefighters, and police, none of the family members survived. Their bodies were recovered more than six hours later, said acting upazila nirbahi officer Faisal Mahmud.
The Met Office in Sylhet reported 404.8 mm of rain in the 24 hours preceding 6:00am yesterday, the highest in a day this year.
The Surma and Kushiyara rivers in Sylhet, and the Manu in Moulvibazar were flowing over what is officially recognised as the danger level early yesterday, inundating many areas in Kanaighat, Zakiganj, Beanibazar, and Golapganj in Sylhet, and Kulaura, Barlekha and Sadar upazilas in Moulvibazar.
In Sylhet City, MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital was inundated. Neighbourhoods in Shahjalal Uposhohor and Majortila were also flooded.
Low-lying areas in Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, and Kurigram were flooded and the water kept rising.
Many farmers say they fear for their harvest.
Sunil Kumar, executive engineer of WDB in Lalmonirhat, said the water level was still below the danger mark.
“We advise the residents to stay alert,” he added.
In Brahmanbaria, villages near Akhaura Land Port have been inundated amid heavy rains upstream.
Farmlands and roads in Kalikapur, Birchandrapur, Abdullahpur, and Bangerchar villages have gone under water.
In Cox’s Bazar, the deep depression damaged 1,700 metres of embankment in Maheshkhali, Kutubdia, and Bharuakhali.
To temporarily tackle the situation during this monsoon, the authorities have requested Tk 2.5 crore in emergency funds to drop geo-tubes at the breached embankments in Kutubdia, said Mohammad Nurul Islam, executive engineer of the Water Development Board in Cox’s Bazar.
After six days of suspension, boat services on the Teknaf-Saint Martin’s Island route resumed yesterday.
In Patuakhali, the depression damaged nearly 7,000 fish farms and enclosures, causing an estimated Tk 25 crore damage, according to the district fisheries office.
In Noakhali, the body of a woman was recovered a day after a boat capsized in the Meghna.
A police officer and a child were still missing.
Almost all the villages in Hatiya had been damaged during the depression.
Source: The Daily Star
