Heavy rain causes alarm in flood-hit Sunamganj

Heavy rainfall over the past few days has caused panic among the residents of Sunamganj as water levels have yet to drop in flood-affected areas.

It rained incessantly through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning in the district. The Met Office said that the rain could continue. The Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya, upstream from Sunamganj, are also seeing heavy rainfall.

Although some flood victims have left the shelters and gone home, public and private relief work is still in full swing due to the shortage of clean drinking water and food. Many are still residing in shelters as flood waters have not receded.

Anisur Rahman, assistant meteorologist at Sylhet Met Office, said, "Rainfall was already forecast for Tuesday. It will continue to rain tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”

"It is raining upstream too. However, the rainfall is not as heavy and incessant as it was before. The rains will gradually decrease from the start of next month.”

Sunamganj Water Development Board Executive Engineer Md Zahirul Islam said, “It is raining heavily in India’s Meghalaya and Assam. The water levels have risen as a result. If the rains continue, the levels may rise further.”

The water levels of the Surma River, at both Sunamganj and Sholghar points have risen from 7.44 metres to 7.66 metres in the last 48 hours. The water is still 14 centimetres below the danger line.

In addition, the waters of the border river of Jadukata and the old Surma River have also been rising for the last few days, said the water development board.

Citing the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, Zahirul said 175 mm of rainfall was recorded in Chhatak Upazila in the past 24 hours and 196 mm in Sunamganj Sadar.

"It is also raining heavily upstream at this time. That is why the water levels are rising.”

Prof Chittaranjan Talukder, an official from the Agriculture and Farmers Protection Council of Sunamganj Haor, said, “The heavy rains and thunderstorms on the night of Jun 16 have caused extreme panic among us. We saw everything go under water within a few hours and people became helpless.”

“We get frightened every time it rains. A few days ago, we had no preparation to deal with the floods. The administration should be well prepared this time.”

Sunamganj Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Shafiqul Islam said there are still 64,000 flood-affected people residing in 295 shelters. The administration is ready to deal with any situation, he said.