Flood situation in Cumilla district deteriorated further with the flooding of fresh areas in the past 24 hours till Saturday, leaving seven lakh people stranded. The water level of Gumti River is flowing 80 cm above its danger mark during this period. The volunteers are seen struggling to distribute relief materials in the flood-hit areas due to lack of boats as roads were submerged. 1235 mobile towers out of order in 10 flood-hit districts: BTRC According to the local administration, a total of 726 shelter centres were opened in the district and some 50,000 people took shelter in those centres. A total of 340 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 15 lakh cash have been allocated for the flood-affected people in the district while a total of 225 medical teams were kept ready to provide medical treatments. Severe flooding devastates Fatikchhari

The HSC and its equivalent exams will be held later in Sylhet if the region sees severe flood, said Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury Nowfel. He said this at a press briefing after a meeting of the National Monitoring and Law and Order Committee formed to hold the upcoming HSC and equivalent examinations in a fair, copying-free environment at the Secretariat on Wednesday. Replying to a question over the public exam, "We have already been informed about the weather forecast during the HSC examination, the water level of various rivers there is in rising trend. We have already completed preparations keeping in mind the movement of students.” Read more: HSC exams to begin from June 30; Coaching centres to remain shut from June 29 to Aug 11 He said the areas where flooding is likely to spread the exams won’t be taken there initially. “We have proper preparation to take those tests later.” “The convenience of the examinees is the most important to us. We do not want the examinees to suffer and their desired results be affected in any way,” he said. This year, the HSC and its equivalent exams are scheduled to begin on June 30. A total of 14,50,790 students from nine General Education Boards, Madrasha Board and Technical Board will sit for the exams from 9,463 educational institutions at 2,275 centres. Read more: Flood situation in Sylhet shows mixed trends as Surma water recedes, Kushiyara rises

The schedule of the postponed Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations will be announced two weeks after distribution of textbooks among the students in the flood-hit districts, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday. There have been extensive damages due to the recent devastating flood and it was not possible to save the textbooks in the flood area, she told the reporters at the Secretariat. “We need to ascertain how many books will be needed in these areas first. If necessary we will print textbooks.” Once  the distribution of books is completed, the students need a little time to prepare themselves for the exams she added. Read: Floods in the northeast throw over 4.55 lakh students in Sylhet div into uncertainty The SSC and its equivalent examinations, under all the education boards scheduled to begin on June 19, were postponed due to the flood situation in the country on June 17. About the rapid surge of Covid-19, the minister said if they can vaccinate the students below 12, they will keep the educational institutions open. “At this moment, schools will not be closed. Decision will be taken seeing the situation.”

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in a statement on Monday said that initiatives will be taken to normalize the power supply to the flood affected areas as soon as the situation improves. It said that the organization was forced to suspend the power supply partially or fully to Sylhet, Sunamganj and other flood affected areas on safety and security grounds. Read: Nasrul Hamid’s prompt alert on temporary power disconnection in Sunamganj The BPDB urged all to maintain communication in case of emergency need with its control room: number-01313096296 (Sylhet), 01708149502-3 (Dhaka).  

Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Tuesday asked the officials concerned to monitor the field activities and supervise it closely after visiting the flood-hit areas as soon as possible to recoup farmers’ losses.

Although floodwater started to recede in some districts, the affected people are yet to see any respite from their sufferings due to lack of food and drinking water. 

The government has distributed 7,147 metric tonnes of rice among the flood-affected people as humanitarian assistance.