S A Shofiee Sylhet

Recent flooding has caused damage amounting to over Tk 800 crore in Sylhet, there have been damages to roads, fisheries, and agriculture totalling Tk 842.45 crore.

according to sources at the district administrations and the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC).

The flood situation in Sylhet district is gradually improving. Signs of damage are emerging as water has started receding from roads in most areas of the district and river water is also decreasing.

However, as the water has not fully receded, the full picture of the damage will not be available right now, said those concerned. In this case, the amount of damage may increase, officials said.

According to Sylhet City Corporation Chief Engineer Noor Azizur Rahman, there was an estimated Tk 300 crore worth of damage during the flood. He said, "I haven't finished calculating the damage, which could go up even further."

He said that the city of Sylhet had about 250 kilometres of flooded roads.

The Sylhet Agriculture Extension Department's deputy director, Mohammad Khair Uddin Molla, reported that the total financial damage resulting from the floods is Tk 275.21 crore.

Vegetables and woven Aman rice have been grown on 20,440 hectares of Aush Bijtala in 13 upazilas of Sylhet. He continued, saying that 98,653 farmers were impacted by the loss of crops on 15,506 hectares of land as a result of floodwater.

KM Faruq Hossain, executive engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department Sylhet, said floods have caused damage to 160 kilometres of roads in Sylhet, costing roughly Tk 119 crore. But the actual damage may be higher.

According to Amir Hossain, executive engineer of the Sylhet Road and Highway Department, flooding has damaged 40 kilometres of roads in the Sylhet district. The estimated loss of money is Tk 85 crore.

Sylhet District Fisheries Officer (Additional Duty) Seema Rani Biswas said the district has lost fish resources worth Tk 44.86 crore as a result of the flood. The district's 21,111 fish ponds, also known as dighi farms, were completely destroyed by floodwaters.

She added that Zakiganj has sustained the most damage out of Sylhet's 13 upazilas. The upazila lost Tk 18.38 crore and at least 6,755 of its dighi farms were washed away.

The Paubo Sylhet executive engineer, Dipak Ranjan Das, stated, "The flood situation is getting better. The water is beginning to recede because it is not raining. We intend to mine the rivers. Future flooding in the Sylhet district could be a new threat due to the way that the developments in the city and haor areas have obstructed water flow.