Mintu Deshwara

Even after curfew was lifted from 6:00am yesterday, very few shops and businesses opened in Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sunamganj and Sylhet district towns following a prolonged period of unrest and uncertainty.

With flood still inundating vast expanse of land across the Sylhet division, including the haor (wetland) areas in Habiganj, boats have become an indispensable mode of communication as well as livelihood for the affected people.

The indigenous Tripura community has lived for generations in the Satchhari National Park of Chunarughat upazila, Habiganj.

As their house was damaged in the ongoing flood, Aftab Uddin’s family has been living in Bara Maidan High School shelter for 23 days at Talimpur union in Barlekha upazila, Moulvibazar.

For the past several years, local residents have been dumping household wastes in the open on Olipur-Shahjibazar road in Brahmandura union under Shayestaganj upazila of Habiganj.

Prices of vegetables have surged sharply over the past one week in markets across Moulvibazar due to a shortage of vehicles for transporting the produce amid the ongoing nationwide curfew, as well as potential price manipulation by traders.

Academic activities of at least 665 educational institutions have been suspended for the last 12 days across Sylhet division due to flooding.

The houses are barely standing on bamboo poles with fences broken, other parts dilapidated, and foundation submerged under water.

Persistent rain in Kulaura of Moulvibazar district has left the upazila health complex severely flooded over the past 15 days.

The KB Ehia Government Primary School in Juri upazila of Moulvibazar is at risk of a landslide happening at any moment from a neighbouring hillock amid monsoon.

The ongoing flood across the Sylhet division has left wildlife in the region in peril.

Md Enamul Haque, a living and breathing individual, has recently discovered a shocking truth.

With water levels receding, hundreds of people in Sylhet are returning to their homes from shelter centres. Many have begun rebuilding their damaged houses.

As soon as the second wave of flash floods hit Sylhet in the early hours of June 17, Moklisur Rahman, a fish farmer in Gowainghat upazila, knew he was going to lose all his fish, which he had worked very hard to raise in his three ponds.

With the waters receding in some areas, the flood situation in the Sylhet region started showing signs of improvement yesterday.

The flood situation in Sylhet has been deteriorating fast with the rivers inundating vast tracts of land and upending the lives of millions.

Suleman Ali, a resident of Dahpara village in Juri upazila, Moulvibazar, lives in fear after parts of his house were damaged by a recent landslide from a nearby hill.

The heavy downpour has raised the risk of landslides in hilly areas. With more rain expected in the coming days, authorities have urged residents to move away from landslide-prone areas.

Eid has not brought joy to many in the Sylhet region as homes of more than 1.6 million people were flooded and nearly 30,000 had to move to shelter centres.

At a time when a life-saving equipment is so much in need, a rescue boat worth several lakhs has just been lying neglected in Sunamganj’s Tahirpur upazila for nearly two years.