Sylhet flood causes Tk 9.71b loss

OUR CORRESPONDENT
SYLHET, June: 30: The flood triggered by incessant rain in the district has caused losses of Tk 9.71 billion in different sectors.
However, hundreds of dwelling houses in the low-lying areas have been inundated due to the heavy rain.
However, heavy rain and rush of upstream water from the hill region has been forecasted in Sylhet region for three days, officials say.
Meanwhile, government authorities, including the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC), the roads and highways department, fisheries and agriculture sectors, have estimated their damage worth about Tk 9.71 billion in Sylhet district only.
Contacted, Khoyer Uddin Molla, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Sylhet, said a total of 167,343 farmers in 13 upazilas were affected badly as Aus seedbeds, vegetables and broadcast Aman on 22,549 hectares of land were damaged.
A financial loss of over Tk 4.18 billion has been estimated in agriculture sector.
As about 250-km roads in the city areas were inundated for days repeatedly, the extent of damage has been estimated at Tk 3.00 billion, an official says.
Sylhet LGED Executive Engineer Md Faruque Hossain said the damage had been estimated to be worth Tk 1.19 billion as 180-km roads in 13 upazilas were hit hard by flooding.
The rural communication had been cut off by the prolonged flooding.
R&H executive engineer Md Amir Hossain told this correspondent that they need about Tk 2 billion for reconstruction of these roads.
The fisheries department has claimed a loss of Tk 292.9 million as fishes of 15,074 ponds, fish farms and other water bodies have been washed away by the flooding in the district.
The damage to structures like ponds, sluice gates and other structures has been estimated at Tk 1.76 million, totalling a loss of Tk 310.5 million in fisheries sector.
Sylhet WDB Executive Engineer Dipok Ranjan Das told this correspondent that floods caused damage to at least 80 points on the Surma dyke and Kushiyara dyke due to the strong current.
"We need Tk 200 million to repair the breaches," he added. However, many low-lying areas are still inundated in upazilas due to slow recession of water.
However the extent of damage can be more with the final estimate done, officials informed.
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