In Sunamganj, 387,528 domestic animals and birds have died in floodwater, leaving their owners at a loss.

The flooding began when hill torrents poured down from upstream. The Sunamganj municipal town and 12 upazilas went under water almost at once, stranding more than 12 lakh people. With roads submerged and broken, Sunamganj was cut off from the rest of the country.

Lakhs of people abandoned their homes and saved their lives by moving to shelters. But they lost cows, goats, ducks, chickens, buffaloes and other livestock and poultry to the water.

The sudden loss of so many animals has left people in the haor region of Sunamganj in deep trouble. They say the floodwater swept away their houses and, with them, their cows, goats, ducks and chickens. They now have neither homes nor livestock, and have lost everything.

Flood victim Hamid Mia said: "I had bought two cows with great difficulty. Both died in the flood. Now it is very hard for us to get by."

Another victim, Rukon Mia, said: "I left my children at the shelter and came back for the cows in the cowshed. Two were still there, but the flood had carried away three. I searched a lot but could not find them."

Sunamganj District Livestock Officer Dr Md Asaduzzaman told Jagonews that 387,528 animals and birds had drowned in the district. The bigger problem, he said, is that an acute shortage of cattle feed has already developed in Sunamganj, and an urgent request has been made to the district administration for 900 tonnes of cattle feed and medicine.

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