Sylhet Flood: 37,000 people still living in shelters

A man and a child travel on a wooden plank through flood waters in Bagha area in Sylhet, Bangladesh, Monday, May 23, 2022. Pre-monsoon deluges have flooded parts of India and Bangladesh, killing at least 24 people in recent weeks and sending 90,000 people into shelters, authorities said Monday. Photo: AP/UNB

More than 37,000 people still remained in shelter centres in flood-hit Sylhet after devastating floods swept through several parts of Bangladesh leaving 95 people dead.

According to the Sylhet district administration, there are now 439 shelters in Sylhet district where 37,176 people are still staying in these shelters.

Almost 30 lakh people have been rendered homeless and as many as 40,091 houses destroyed in the recent floods in Sylhet, sources said on Thursday.

All the 13 upazilas of the district, including five municipalities, have been affected.

The district administration has distributed relief materials among the flood victims.

Sources said Tk 1.92 crore in cash, 1,612 metric tonnes of rice and 19,918 packets of dry food have been distributed among the flood-affected people in the district.

According to the Water Development Board, the water level of Surma River has gone down by 10 cm at Kanaighat Point and 4 cm at Sylhet Point at 12pm today. However, the water level of the Kushiyara River is stable.

Meanwhile, it drizzled in Sylhet on Friday as well. However, there is no possibility of water rise in these rivers due to this light rain, said AKM Niloy Pasha, deputy assistant engineer of Sylhet Water Development Board.

Besides, rains are likely over this region for three more days, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).