SYLHET, June 1: With almost no rains since morning and onrush of water from the upstream in the Indian state of Meghalaya, overall flood situation has started improving in Sylhet district although many people still remained marooned in remote villages, according to sources.
And water of Surma and Kushiyara rivers were still flowing above danger levels at some important points.
Dipok Ranjan Das, Executive Engineer of WDB, Sylhet, told the FE that the dykes in the Surma and the Kushiyara developed cracks and also got damaged at 30 to 35 points in Zakiganj, Kanaighat, Jaintapur, Gowainghat and Beanibazar upazila in the last two days.
The gushing water from across the borders damaged the dykes, he said, adding that some emergency repairs had been done.
"After the flood situation improves, we would survey the extent of damage and go for repairs," Das added.
Meanwhile, flood water has inundated many areas in the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) since Friday, forcing a good number of residents to move to safe shelters.
The affected areas are Sobhanighat, Uposhahar, Mendibag, Jatarpur, Kazirbazar, Taltola, and Masimpur where the residents are going through extreme sufferings.
The Surma in the city was now flowing 7 cm above the red mark and at Kanaighat, it is flowing 82 cm above the red mark while the Kushiyara was still flowing 189 cm above danger mark at Amolshid and 7 cm above the red mark at Sheola.
Meanwhile, as flood water started receding from the frontier areas, the damage is becoming visible in upazilas like Gowainghat, Companiganj, Kanaighat and Zakiganj.
The situation saw marked improvement in Beanibazar and Golapganj upazila.
According to the Sylhet district administration, the number of flood-affected people dropped to 609,033 on Saturday from 643,470 on Friday, in a sign of improvement, and 1,500 people, out of about 5,000, returned home from flood shelters.
So far, 400 tonnes of rice, 1,250 sacks of dry food, Tk 1.55 million in cash assistance, Tk 900,000 for animal feed, and Tk 900,000 for baby food have been distributed in flood-affected areas.
Assistant meteorologist at the Sylhet Regional Met Office Shah Md. Sajib Hossain said 7.3 mm rain was recorded in the city in 24 hours till 6:00 am on Saturday while Cherrapunji in India experienced 54 mm rain against the previous day's 500 mm.
If rain lets up and the flow of hilly water stops in the next 2 to 3 days, the situation would be normal, WDB officials said.
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