Mintu Deshwara

Moulvibazar’s Juri upazila is home to a somewhat unique religious site. On a shared courtyard, built on deep mutual respect, the Bhuai Jame Mosque and Bhuai Durga Puja Mandap have been a beacon of communal harmony and coexistence for years.

Ripon Chandra Sheel, a 22-year-old from Poil village in Habiganj, had been looking forward to celebrating Durga Puja with his newborn son.

More than 250,000 people in the district affected by floods

At the turn of the millennium, travelling by road between Sylhet and Dhaka felt akin to a trek across rugged terrain. One would have to awkwardly traverse bumps along narrow and winding paths for upwards of 10 hours to make the trip either way.

A 24-meter paved bridge over the Fanai river in Moulvibazar’s Kulaura upazila has become hazardous for vehicles and pedestrians due to damage caused by river excavation.

Within just two years of construction, the new one-storey building of Rangichhara Government Primary School in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar has turned into a risky structure.

Illegal fishing practices in Hakaluki Haor, a major wetland located between Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts, have been causing an alarming decline to the aquatic resources of this freshwater ecosystem.

Taking advantage of the lax monitoring by law enforcers, a vested group has allegedly started filling a government canal near Kaligachhtala Point on Habiganj Town Bypass Road.

Recent floods triggered by heavy rains and onrush of upstream water from India left farmers devastated in Moulvibazar.

Illegal hill cutting has turned rampant in Dinarpur Pargana under Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj district in recent times.

The recent floods in Sylhet division have left nearly 1.75 lakh rural latrines damaged, severely impacting sanitation in affected areas.

Over 9,000 deep and shallow tubewells were submerged during three separate floods in Moulvibazar in the past two months, causing a severe shortage of clean drinking water.

A significant rise in number of battery-run auto-rickshaws has paved way to serious traffic congestion at Mantola Bazar Intersection in Habiganj’s Madhabpur upazila.

Moulvibazar municipality has been grappling with a severe waste management crisis for over a month due to a disruption in services following the fall of the Awami League government, and prolonged floods.

Around three decades back, flocks of vultures were a common sight across the country. These vultures, known as nature’s “cleaners”, would gather around dead cattle left in open fields, swiftly removing the bodies and sanitising the area.

The recent spells of floods caused damages to at least 512 kilometres of road network and 12 bridges in Moulvibazar district.

Nurun Begum, 65, stood by the embankment on Manu river in Mierpara village under Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar near the border with India, with a blank look towards the place where her mud hut stood even a few days back.

Ramnath Biswas, a celebrated globetrotter during the British period, became renowned for his remarkable bicycle journeys across four continents between 1931 and 1940.

Whenever a flood takes place, the full extent of its damage cannot be mostly understood until the water recedes.

With this month’s flood ravaging communities, sweeping away homes and leaving people and livestock amid acute shortage of food and drinking water, a grim scenario now prevails across Moulvibazar.