Sylhet Flood
Music Alliance Bangladesh cancels 'National Music Festival and Conference' in Sylhet
Music Alliance Bangladesh (Sangeet Oikya Bangladesh) has cancelled its upcoming "National Music Festival and Conference" in Sylhet due to the catastrophic flood in the division.
The month-long festival and conference were scheduled to be held on June 24 at Sylhet Shilpakala Academy.
Shahid Mahmud Jangi, one of the general secretaries of the organisation and president of Geetikabi Sangha Bangladesh, said due to the worst floods in two decades in northeastern Bangladesh, Music Alliance Bangladesh feels the urge to stand by the people by not holding any festival or conference.
Music Alliance Bangladesh lifted the curtain on a nationwide month-long music festival and conference at Zilla Shilpakala Academy, Chattogram Friday.
Read: Alliance Française de Dhaka pays tribute to Tagore-Nazrul
Sylhet: A city tries to cope with its worst flood in living memory
Residents of Sylhet city have been suffering since Thursday as all major areas of the city, including houses, shops, and hospitals, went under water.
The low-lying areas of the city were submerged first. People were seen wading through the knee-to-waist deep water.
People in the city were seen making concrete walls with bricks and cement at the entrances of their houses as makeshift dams to protect them from flood water Saturday.
Read: Flood situation turns grim: Power supply to Sylhet, Sunamganj suspended
Water also entered Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, causing immense suffering to the patients.
Local administrations opened several shelters, but they quickly became overcrowded. The inmates of the shelter homes now desperately need food, pure drinking water, and fodder.
The flood situation in Sylhet started turning into a terrible disaster Thursday afternoon as almost all the upazilas and municipal areas went under water. Electricity was cut off in the district on Saturday, although later it was restored partially in the city.
Flood ravages life in 5 north-east districts inc. Sylhet
Heavy monsoon downpours swelled rivers across the country worsening the ongoing flood situation in the north-eastern districts of Sylhet, Sunamganj, parts of Lalmonirhat, Netrakona, Sherpur and Kurigram. At least a million people have been left marooned.
Nine units of the Bangladesh Army started rescue operations in flood-hit Sylhet and Sunamganj districts in the afternoon.
“The troops are working in Sylhet sadar, Gowainghat, Kompaniganj, Sunamganj sadar, Dirai, Chhatak, Doarabazar and Jamalganj upazilas to rescue the waterlogged people from their homes by boat and take them to safe shelter,” said Major General Hamidul Haque, (general officer commanding) of Sylhet Cantonment.
Major General Hamidul Haque said that the power supply in Sylhet Kumargaon power plant was under threat due to rising water level that may force it to shutdown. From noon, the army began construction of a dam with sandbags around the Kumargaon power substation.
Besides, an attempt is being made to dry the water entering the power plant with the help of Sylhet City Corporation's sucker machine.
Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury said, ”If the Kumargaon substation sinks, power connection to the whole district will be snapped cutting off all communication. So we are trying our best to keep this station running.”
Besides, army members are trying to protect several food warehouses in Sunamganj.
Meanwhile, flight operations at Sylhet MAG Osmani International Airport have been suspended for next three days as the flood waters encroached on the runway.
A total of 367 educational institutes suspended classes as the buildings remained under the water in seven upazilas including the Sylhet sadar, said officials of the district Education Board.
The government is indefinitely postponing the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations under all education boards scheduled to begin from June 19. The news came as a relief for the flood-hit regions.
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) has been closed till June 25 in a decision taken at an emergency syndicate meeting Friday morning.
Sunamganj
Flood situation in Sunamganj went out of hand on Friday as the communication system of the district completely broke down.
Sunamganj municipality mayor Nader Bakht said, "Water has entered almost all the roads and houses in the municipal area. People are seeking refuge in the highlands. The residents of the town have fallen into a terrible disaster.”
Momen vows to help flood-stricken people
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has urged all to get involved to help the flood-affected people in Sylhet region and join hands with the government to rescue those stranded by flood waters.He said the administration is mobilising an adequate number of speedboats and boats to rescue the marooned people in flood-affected regions and take them to nearby shelters.The foreign minister in a video message from his verified Facebook page on Friday pledged to take government assistance to all flood affected people in Sylhet region.He also urged activists and leaders of local Awami League and its associate bodies to voluntarily provide cooked food to the centers as there is no shortage of relief and dry food.
Read: Worsening floods threaten power supply in Sylhet: officials"The SSC exam was a concern for the students there but it has been suspended for now. Electricity got disrupted in many areas as the Sylhet City Corporation could not protect the Kumargaon power substation from getting flooded ” he added.All the relevant ministries are jointly trying to control the situation and are being alerted and there is nothing to get panicked, said Momen.“It gave us a lesson that we have occupied the water bodies like canal, haor, bil which caused the flood situation to worsen and these need dredging, he said.
Sunamganj: Thousands affected by second round of flooding
Renewed floods triggered by incessant rain and onrush of water from upstream hills have inundated vast areas of Sunamganj for the second time in weeks, putting thousands of people in extreme misery.
People from Surma, Lakhsmipur, Bogula, Banglabazar, Norsingpur and Doara unions of Sunamganj Sadar upazila have been the worst hit by this flooding, said district officials.
Although water from the first round of flooding late last month is yet to receded fully, the latest blow came within just three weeks causing untold suffering for the people of the affected areas.
The affected people are enduring various water-borne diseases as the tube wells have submerged and the sanitation system has broken down in the flooded areas. Besides, road communications between Surma, Lakhsmipur, and Bogula unions and the upazila Sadar have been cut off due to the flooding.
Read: Flood situation worsens in Sunamganj; 11 upazilas flooded
Thousands of people incurred huge losses as their paddy and vegetable fields were inundated during last month’s flooding. Just when they started to recover from their losses, the latest bout of deluge has compounded their plight.
Most of the rivers running through the Sunamganj Sadar upazila were flowing above the danger mark until Friday morning. Increased water flow submerged most of the houses and roads of the upazila in the last 24 hours.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer(UNO) of Sunamganj Sadar Farzana Priyanka said that the district administration was keeping in touch with the Water Development Board (WDB) constantly. Besides, they’ve also kept their flood monitoring rooms open.
“The administration and the public representatives are always active to deal with any emergency. We’ve also stored up enough relief materials for the flood-affected people,” said Farzana.