United News of Bangladesh

The Chandpur town protection embankment has become vulnerable due to onrush of water from upstream. Some vulnerable spots in the embankment have already been spotted by Water Development Board (WDB) officials. They are dumping cement blocks and sand-filled geo bags to prevent the cracks in the embankment. The vulnerable spots in the embankment are- Puranbazar and Notunbazar points, Tilabari in Jamuna Road (cracks developed twice within just two or three months), Pilot House, Dolmandir area, Harishava, Ronagoyal, South Sriramdi and adjacent areas. Read: Modern launch terminal to be constructed in Chandpur Executive Engineer of WDB Chandpur office Rifat Jamil told UNB that he visited the Dolmandir spot. “A total of 13,000 geo bags and 10,000 cement blocks have been dumped in a five-kilometer area. Another 13,000 geo bags and 13,000 cement blocks have been kept available beside the embankment to use during any emergency,” said the official.    “Chandpur district town is situated on the confluence of three rivers- the Meghna, the Padma and the Dakatiya. As a result, the town always remains under threat of river erosion during monsoon,” he said.

Up to one lakh people have so far been evacuated from the flood-hit Sylhet and Sunamganj districts, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Enamur Rahman said on Sunday. Nearly 40 lakh people have been marooned in the two districts in one of the worst floods in the region in memory.  The rain-fed deluge inundated 60 percent areas in Sylhet district and 90 per cent areas in Sunamganj district, the state minister told reporters at the Secretariat. He said that at the directives of the Prime Minister the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Fire Service men are conducting the rescue operation. At least 32 boats of Army, 12 boats of Navy and four boats of Fire Service are conducting the rescue operation, he said. Already 75,000 people have taken shelter in different centers in Sunamganj and 30,000 people in Sylhet. He said two people have died, one died from electrocution while another drowned in the flood water. There is no report of any one missing during the flood, he added. The flood situation slightly improved in Sylhet while it remained static in Sunamganj district. Besides, the flood situation worsened in Habiganj and Moulvibazar districts. Enamur said that the flood situation may worsen in northern parts of the country after Monday. Referring to the weather report, state the minister said flood water may start to recede from Tuesday and it will continue for three more days as per the report of Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Read: Sylhet: A city tries to cope with its worst flood in living memory Many areas in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Moulvibazar and Habiganj district have been inundated in fresh flood while 70 upazilas in 12 districts were inundated by the flood water, he said. The flood situation in north-eastern areas may improve but it will turn worse in the adjacent northern parts of the country due to rise in water levels of Brahmmaputra and Teesta, he said. Already Tk 2.60 crore has been allocated for the flood-hit people in Sunamganj and Sylhet districts and Tk 10 lakh, 100 metric tonnes of rice, 4,000 packets of dry foods were sent to the districts which have been flooded newly. Besides, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also provided  another Tk 20 crore for the flood-hit people, said the minister. A continuous supply chain is under process to maintain the disbursement of relief in the flood-hit areas, he said.

Rail communication between Sylhet and other parts of the country resumed Sunday afternoon after nearly 24 hours as floodwater started to recede in some areas. Sardar Shahadat Ali, additional Director General (Operation) of Bangladesh Railway, said the railway authorities resumed the train services Sunday afternoon. The rail link with Sylhet was suspended Saturday afternoon due to the worsening flood situation. Read: Rail communication with Sylhet snapped amid flood Sylhet railway authorities made the announcement of suspending train services around 12:55 pm. “As floodwater entered the railway station rail communication has been suspended,” said Nurul Islam, manager of Sylhet Railway Station. Flood situation in Sylhet started turning into a terrible disaster from Thursday afternoon as almost all the upazilas and municipal area went under water. 

Flood vicitms in the district have been going through immese sufferings due to crisis of food and pure drinking water. “We have neihter any food nor have received any relief at the shelter,”said Terab Bibi, a resident of Chararpar of Sylhet city who has taken shelter at Ramkrishna Primary School in Chalibandar area amid the worsening flood situation. “I failed to provide any food to my children as no relief materials have reached the shelter yet. I gave some puffed rice to my children. How can I stay here?” said the 35-year old woman.  Floods are ravaging the country and vast areas starting from Sylhet-Sunamganj to northern Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram have been submerged by floodwaters. As rains ceased, floodwater started to recede in some flood-hit areas on Sunday. However, many rivers are still flowing above the danger level.

Three people including two members of a family were killed when a private car crashed into an electric pole in Nawbaganj upazila of Keraniganj early Sunday. The deceased were identified as private car driver Monir Khan Billal, 54, Abul Kashem, 65, and his granddaughter Farhana, 8. Also read: 2 businessmen killed in Satkhira road crash The accident occurred around 4am when the private car coming from Shahjalal International Airport area hit a roadside electric pole on Dhaka-Nawabganj-Dohar regional road, leaving six people injured, said Alamgir Hossain, sub-inspector (SI) of Nobabganj police station. Locals rushed the injured to Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared Abul Kashem and Farhana dead. Three others were later sent to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) where the driver succumbed to his injuries, the SI added. Also read: Road crashes leave seven dead in Chattogram, Feni The accident  occurred when Abul Kashem went to receive his expatriate son-in-law Lavlu along with his family members at the airport in the capital Sunday morning, he added.

Rohingyas at various camps in Cox’s Bazar are going to stage a demonstration titled ‘Go Home’ on Sunday. The demonstration will be staged to press home a total of 19 demands, including an end to killings at refugee camps and their repatriation to Myanmar. The local police haven’t provided permission to stage the demonstration as of filing of this report. The demonstration will be carried out in a bid to celebrate ‘World Refugee Day’ tomorrow. The last time a demonstration of this magnitude was staged was on August 25, 2019, under the leadership of slain Master Muhibullah. Read: Rohingyas staging demonstrations, unwilling to go back According to sources, tomorrow’s demonstration will also be organized by Arakan Rohingya Society Peace for Human Rights, an organization founded by Muhibullah. The program will start at 10:00am. Rohingyas from five camps will gather at the football field of Balukhali Rohingya Camp-9 to participate in the programme. UNB couldn’t contact Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissionar Shah Rezwan Hayat in this regard though after repeated attempts. Additional Police Super (ASP) of Armed Police Battalion Unit-8 (8APBN) Kamran Hossain said that they’ve come to know that the Rohingyas are going to organize a demonstration demanding their quick repatriation. “We’ll comment on this after knowing the details,” Kamran added.

A schoolgirl was allegedly raped at a birthday party at Mahishar union under Shariatpur’s Vedorganj upazila recently, with a video of the incident released on the internet. Although the family of the victim has filed a case in this regard, they are worried about getting justice due to threats from the accused. According to the victim, the accused are her classmates. They raped her at a birthday party and recorded the incident. “They tried to abuse me sexually by showing that video to me. They uploaded the video online as I didn’t comply with their demands,” the victim said. Read: 31-yr-old raped by three in Sylhet The accused are- Arpan Das, 19, son of Ashim Das and Durjoy Das, 19, son of Komal Das from Daspara village under Mahishar union and Mubdi Sarker, 18, son of Moktar Sarder from South Mahishar village. All of them are students of Sajanpur Islamia High School. According to the police, Durjoy and Mubdi took the victim to Arpan’s house telling her to attend a birthday party some months ago. There they raped her and recorded the crime in video format. The trio was using the video to take advantage of the girl. When they couldn’t succeed with their plans, they shared the video online. The victim has been unable to go to her school since then due to fear of social vilification. The victim filed a case against the three under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and the Pornography Act on June 5. But police members are yet to arrest the accused. The victim’s family has said that they are receiving threats from the families of the accused as they are influential in the area. Sub-inspector (SI) of Vedorganj police station and Investigation Officer (IO) of the case Rajib Sutradhar said that the victim’s family has filed a case over charges of rape and making the video viral.   “An investigation is going on and efforts are on to nab the culprits,” said the IO.

A 35-year-old undertrial inmate, who fell sick in a district jail, died at a city hospital on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Rasel Miah, son of Mannan Miah in the West Deobhog area of Fatullah. Rasel, who complained of having breathing difficulty, was taken to the Victoria General hospital after falling ill around 10 am. “He breathed his last around 11am during treatment” Mahbub Alam, superintendent of Narayanganj district jail said the court sent Rasel to jail in a drug case at Fatullah police station two days ago. As he fell sick on the same day due to breathing difficulties, he was kept in the prison hospital. Read: ‘Custodial death’ in Lalmonirhat: Rights body demand justice He was rushed to Victoria General Hospital on Saturday morning after his health deteriorated, where he died while undergoing treatment there, the officer added.   The body will be handed over to the family after legal procedures.

A 32-year-old man was crushed and another was injured under the wheels of a train in the Bariarhat area of Mirsarai district on Saturday. The identities of the victims could not be known immediately. The accident occurred around 12:15 pm on Saturday at the rail crossing area of Bariarhat fish market, said Md Khorshed, sub-inspector of Chittagong Railway Police. Read: Man crushed under train in Dhaka A Chittagong-bound Sonar Bangla and Dhaka-bound Karnafuli Express were passing together at noon. At that time a young man and a teenager fell on the rail tracks from the Karnafuli Express train, added the SI. “One of them died on the spot.” The injured teenager was sent to Mirsarai Upazila Health Complex. Arrangements have been made by CID to reveal the identity of the youth through DNA tests, said Mohammad Nazim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Railway Police Station.

Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam has directed the local authorities in Sylhet for cutting up roads if necessary to make way for floodwater to subside. He has also directed the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) to supply electricity to MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital through generators as floodwater has snapped electricity supply to the hospital. Tajul provided these directives during a press briefing on the flood situation in Sylhet at his Minto Road residence in Dhaka today afternoon. According to the Minister, the Local Government Engineering Division (LGED) and the Sylhet City Corporation have been directed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to cut up any roads immediately due to which floodwater can’t retreat at this moment. “Officials of LGED and SCC are monitoring the flood situation in Sylhet closely. Separate control rooms have been opened at the Local Government Division and the Public Health Engineering Directorate under this Division in this regard,” said Tajul. Admitting that the flood situation in Sylhet-Sunamganj region has reached dangerous levels, Tajul also said that his ministry’s primary concern at this moment is to bring the flood-affected people from their homes to safe shelters and provide dried food, safe drinking water and water-purifying tablets to these people. Read: Sylhet: A city tries to cope with its worst flood in living memory “Public representatives, government officials, Army and Navy officials and volunteers are trying their best to help the flood-affected people. The government is also working to lessen the plight of these people through coordinating the works of the LGED Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry and the Shipping Ministry,” added Tajul. Replying to a question, the Minister said that the government has been able to take prompt steps due to its advance preparedness. “The government will allocate necessary resources for any damages of the communication systems in Sylhet region due to the flood,” Tajul mentioned.   The Minister also praised the journalists, saying that it is due to the media personnel that the government gets to know about any emergency situations in due time.