Sylhet flood situation deteriorates, most areas suffer a power outage
More than 700 schools in the district were closed due to the flood
The flood situation in Sylhet city and all the upazilas of the district has further deteriorated as most of the rivers swelled and some were flowing above danger marks for the last couple of days, inundating many more areas.
Moreover, about half of the district has been without electricity since Tuesday as power substations got submerged in the floods.
Alongside the power outage, mobile phone networks and internet services have also been disrupted in Sylhet, increasing the suffering of the flood-affected people.
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Besides, the flood not only takes a heavy toll on human lives and property but also affects the education in the district. More than 700 schools in the district have been closed due to the flood.
According to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), the Surma and Kushiara Rivers were flowing above the danger level for the fourth consecutive day. Although water flow decreased by 6 cm at the Kanaighat point, it increased by 2 cm at Sylhet Sadar on Wednesday.
Water continues to rise in city areas and villages, marooning lakhs of people.
Floods leave thousands without power
Thousands of residents in the district and city have been enduring power outages following waterlogging.
Power substations in multiple areas including South Surma and Upashahar were inundated by a flash flood, causing a power outage in the areas since Tuesday.
As most areas of Kanaighat, Zakiganj, Jointapur, Comanyganj, Sadar and Fenchuganj upazilas went underwater, the power supply remains shut off in the flood-affected areas to ensure the safety of consumers, Abdul Kadir, chief engineer of Bangladesh Power Development Board in Sylhet, says.
He said in some places, the equipment of substations was submerged in water. Besides, the electric metres in many places went underwater. The electricity supply cannot be restored as the flood situation is deteriorating.
Delwar Hossain, a resident of the Masimpur area, said, "Our house remained underwater for three days. There is also a shortage of freshwater.
District administration sources said they opened 199 shelter centres across the district and 17 shelter centres in the city.
Flash flood takes heavy toll on education
More than 700 educational institutions, mostly government primary schools, have closed due to severe flooding in the district, causing learning loss to students.
Of those, 500 educational institutions in Sylhet were inundated by floods. Besides, shelter centres were opened in more than 200 educational institutions.
District Primary Education Officer Shakhawat Ershed said academic activities were closed in the flooded schools. The number of flooded schools may increase due to rising water.
District Secondary Education Officer Jahangir Alam echoed the same.
Sources in the Secondary Education Officer's office said about 150 secondary schools and madrasas in the district have been flooded.
38 high schools in Kanaighat, 5 in Biswanath, 12 in Jaintapur, 18 each in Sadar and Gowainghat and 15 in Companyganj are affected. Besides, about 20 more secondary schools in South Surma and the city were also closed.
Many schools where water did not enter are closed to go on duty as shelter centres. 199 schools in the district and 17 schools in the city were declared as shelter centres.
Moreover, 20 colleges in different upazilas were also flooded.
Niloy Pasha, deputy assistant engineer of BWDB in Sylhet, said there will be no improvement in the flood situation if the rain does not stop upstream.
Sylhet-1 lawmaker Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Enamul Haque visited Sylhet on Wednesday to monitor the flood situation.
After distributing relief among the flood-affected people at a shelter centre, Momen said, "We undertook a plan to dredge the bottom of two main rivers of Sylhet to address the massive flooding."
The minister called upon all to be sincere in protecting the ponds and reservoirs inside the city to drain out the floodwater.
Enamul Haque, state minister for relief, said the navigability of the rivers here would be restored by capital dredging to deal with the floods before the next monsoon.
