Water level recedes, damages surface

Shimultola, a small village on the bank of Piyain river. Rasheda Khatun (46) lives there with her daylabourer husband and children. She was running a fever with a temperature of 102 to 103 degrees Fahrenheit. She was coughing incessantly.

As soon as this correspondent reached closer her house braving the waist-high water she began to wail saying, “On the eve of the Eid my 10-year-old daughter rolled over from the bed to the floor. Waking up with her scream, I found knee-high water inside the floor. Saving our lives somehow, we moved to the high land right beside the village. We just returned home today (Saturday).”

“All our clothes, bed, blankets have been ruined by the water. The kitchen along with the utensils has been washed up in the waves. Even the fences of the house have been smashed. How will we survive or what will we eat now! I came down with fever from getting drenched in the rain and flood. I don’t even have the money to see a doctor!” she lamented.

The Shimultola village falls under the West Islampur Union in Comapniganj upazila of Sylhet. Locals better recognise it as Gucchagram (cluster village). Majority of the residents in this village are day labourer by profession.

Since it is located in the low laying area on the banks of the river, the water level goes up from waist to chest-high in the village whenever it floods. The village has submerged twice already this year. Though the village has been ransacked by the flood this time, nobody received any relief yet.

Visiting the area in person on Saturday afternoon, it was found that 146 houses have been damaged more or less in Shimultola. The water has receded from 80 per cent of the houses but there is water on porches and yards though.

The roads running through the village is still under waist-high water. Many of the residents in the village are suffering from skin infections, blisters, ear infection, fever, stomach conditions and diarrhoea.

Nasibun Begum, over 60 years old, lives in Islampur village under Islampur Union of Sunamganj’s Chatak upazila. One has to take a boat from Chhatak upazila sadar to reach the village on the border.

While visiting the village on Saturday afternoon, Nasibun Begum along with both of her daughters-in-law were found repairing their house. She was spreading mud on the floor and then covering that up with bricks and polythene sheets to make the floor suitable for walking.

All the members of the family had taken refuge in another house of the village for the last couple of days. As the water moved out of their rooms on Friday night, they returned home on Saturday morning. As soon as they arrived home, they began fixing everything anew. Everyone was busy. These women who were displaced out of their home in the flood had expressions of grief etched on their faces.

The overall flood situation has improved with river water level receding in different areas of Sylhet. However two of the major rivers in the district, Surma and Kushiara were flowing above the danger level at four different points. As the water has receded from the locality, residents have started returning home from the shelter centres.

Executive engineer of Sylhet water development board, Dipak Ranjan Das said that the flood situation has improved due to less rainfall and there being no new flash floods from the upstream. If the condition remains the same for several more days the situation will improve even further.

The flood water has also receded from Sunamganj’s Chatak. People were seen cleaning up at a number of shops. A resident of the paper mill area, Ranjan Kumar Das said there was waist-high water in Chatak town. People were in indescribable distress as many have been affected.

According to district administration records, a total of 1,018 villages in 12 upazilas of Sunamganj were inundated in the flood. And, about 800,000 people were left waterlogged. Nearly 25,000 families took refuge in shelter centres. The road communication between the district sadar and several upazilas was cut off as well.

Deputy commissioner of Sunamganj Mohammad Rashed Iqubal Chowdhury said that the flood situation is improving and it will improve even further. There is adequate amount of relief materials and those are being distributed among flood victims in all upazilas.