Continuous rain and runoff from the hills upstream are raising the rivers of Sunamganj rapidly, leaving more than 2 million people in the district living in constant fear. Low-lying areas along the border could be flooded by the runoff at any time, stranding more than 500,000 people.

Sunamganj is a downstream district of 3,747.18 square kilometres. Every year it faces flooding, from nor'westers to hill runoff coming down from India. Just a month ago, people in the haor region had to overcome many obstacles to bring home their paddy, battling lightning, waterlogging in the haors and upstream runoff to harvest their hard-won crop. Even so, the paddy of more than 100,000 farmers was damaged. Just as haor people were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a new worry has spread from the haors to the town.

Most people in several upazilas, including Tahirpur, Bishwambharpur, Dharmapasha and Madhyanagar, live right next to the border, so their villages are the first to be flooded by hill runoff. More than 500,000 people in four to five upazilas could be stranded. Runoff has already submerged the Anwarpur road in Tahirpur and the Shaktiarkhola road in Bishwambharpur, cutting Tahirpur's direct road link with the district town.

Dilowar Mia, a resident of Charagaon in Tahirpur, said: "The water came suddenly and submerged all the roads. There is waist-deep water on them, and people in this area suffered all day."

Akkas Mia, another Charagaon resident, said the hill runoff had submerged all the roads of the border village of Charagaon, and if the rain continued, everyone in the border and low-lying areas would be stranded.

Sunamganj town resident Iqbal Mia said: "Flood is another name for fear. The way the river is rising, the worry keeps growing."

Rukon Mia, who lives beside Karchar haor, said: "There is no peace for haor people, because we have to fight one hardship after another. Until now it was the battle to save the paddy; from now on the battle to save our homesteads begins."

According to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), the Surma, Boulai, Rakti and other rivers have risen. The Surma rose 84 cm in the past 24 hours but is flowing about 37 cm below the danger mark. If there is heavy rain in the next two days, the rivers could approach the danger mark and touch it in some places, which could temporarily flood low-lying parts of the district.

Mamun Howlader, executive officer of the Sunamganj BWDB, said the rivers were rising because rain was continuing at Cherrapunji in India, but no flood situation had yet developed in the district.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.