Incessant rainfall, and rising water continue to worsen flooding in Sylhet

Heavy rain and water from hill runoff have inundated at least 12 Upazilas in the Sylhet district

Incessant rainfall and hill runoff have swelled the rivers in Sylhet, causing them to flow over their danger limits.

Meanwhile, people have already started moving to shelter homes due to water-logging issues and severe flooding in 12 Upazilas of the district.

According to Deepak Ranjan Das, an executive engineer of Sylhet's Water Development Board, the water is flowing over the danger limit at six points of the Surma, Kushiyara, Sari, and Gowain rivers.

"Over the last 24 hours, the district has been deluged by 153 mm of rain. On Tuesday, Sylhet saw 44 mm of rainfall from 6am to 9am," said meteorologist Shah Md Shajib Hossain.

On Tuesday, India's Cherrapunji saw 395 mm of rainfall until 9am. The water then made its way downstream and across the border into the Upazilas of the Sylhet district.

On May 29, regular downpours and runoff from upstream caused severe flooding in Sylhet. The rainwater began to recede after Jun 8.

From Monday, incessant showers flooded the region again, and knee-deep water was seen inundating Taltola, Machimpur, Jatarpur, Sobhanighat, and the Uposhahar neighbourhoods of Sylhet city.

"If the rains persist, the situation will go from bad to worse," said WDB official Das.

Gowainghat Upazila executive officer Towhidul Islam told bdnews24.com: "Various roads of the Upazila have flooded, and the communication system has been rendered. As many as 296 people have taken shelter, along with their cattle. The administration is distributing food and other aid in the shelters."

According to Labib Ahmad, a journalist and a resident of Companiganj Upazila, people are suffering due to the severity of the flooding.

"Cherrapunji received 395 mm of rain in the last 24 hours. If this water flows through the border, the situation will worsen," he added.

"There is knee-deep water everywhere. We are stuck due to the flooding. There is no electricity, and mobile networks are unavailable. I have never seen so much rainfall in this area. It rained continuously from 10pm on Monday until 8am on Tuesday. The people are moving to the shelters."

According to Companiganj Upazila Chairman Mazir Uddin, dry food and relief materials are being distributed to the people by the administration.

On Monday night, the district administration said in a notification that as many as 538 shelters have been arranged for the people in the Sylhet district.

As of Monday night, 69 unions in the region were inundated.

According to data collected from the Sylhet Water Development Board, the Surma River water flowed 1.33 cm above the danger level at the Kanighat point and 0.22 cm at the Sylhet point as of 9am on Tuesday.

The Kushiyara River water also flowed 0.15 cm above the level at the Amalshid point and 0.79 cm above it at the Fenchuganj point.

At Sarighat point, the Sari River flowed 0.35 cm over the level and 0.16 cm over the level at the Gowainghat point of the Sari-Gowain River.

Omar Sani Akon, assistant commissioner of the Sylhet Deputy Commissioner's Office, said: "The flooding situation has worsened due to heavy rains in the district and the neighbouring regions of Cherrapunji, Shillong, and Assam in India for several days. Twelve Upazilas in the district, including the city, have already flooded."

"However, the assistant commissioner said that the district administration is actively dealing with the situation."

Meanwhile, a heatwave is gripping the Khulna division and a forecast says rainfall is expected to increase over the next five days.

Khulna recorded the highest temperature of 37.3 degrees on Monday, while Sylhet recorded the most rainfall at 153 mm on Monday.

Meteorologist Abul Kalam Mallik said: "On Tuesday, a heatwave gripped the Khulna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Madaripur, Rajshahi, Gopalganj and Pabna districts.

"Heavy to severe rainfall will likely occur in the Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions in the next 24 hours. Many places in the Dhaka, Chattogram, and Barishal divisions, as well as some places in Khulna and Rajshahi divisions, may experience light to moderate rain with gusty winds."