Torrential rains submerge 26 villages in Jashore

JASHORE, Sept 18 (UNB): Incessant rains for the last couple of days have flooded homesteads, cropland and fish enclosures, rendering around 8,500 people of 26 villages in Abhay-nagar upazila marooned.
School grounds and house courtyards are flooded, with water levels reaching waist and even chest height in some areas.
According to the office of Abhaynagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer, low-lying areas in Prembagh, Sundali, Chali-sia, Payra unions, and Nawapara municipality were heavily affected due to Bhavadaha's waterlogging and recent rains.
Fourteen shelters were opened where 14 men, 18 women, and 55 children have taken refuge, it said.
The worst-affected areas include Ziadanga, Magura, Bongram, Baliadanga in Prembagh Union, Laxmipur, Danga Moshiahati, and Sundali in Sundali Union, Dumurtala, Andha, Chalisia in Chalisia Union, Dighalia and Barandi in Payra Union, and Buikara, Amdanga, and Gazipur in Nawapara municipality.
During a visit to the affected unions, the correspondent found people stranded, with schools closed and roads underwater. "In the waterlogged area of Kota West Para, water has entered the homes of residents like Jafar Sheikh and Shefali Begum.
They are in a desperate state, unable to cook, eat, or even go to the toilet. At night, they live in fear of snakes and insects as water floods beneath their beds," said a local.
Md. Robiul Alam, President of the Abhay-nagar Upazila Fish Enc-losure Owners' Association, said, "Fish enclosure owners are ruined. Without government help, rehabilitation will be very difficult."