200,000 marooned by Bangladesh floods

Heavy monsoon rains and flash floods have inundated homes and crops in north-eastern Bangladesh, stranding more than 200,000 people.

The region’s Surma and Kushiara rivers crossed their flood marks late yesterday, local Water Board officials said.

The area is about 120 miles north-east of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and borders India’s Assam state, which is also facing floods.

In the worst-hit districts of Zakiganj and Kanaighat, the Kushiara breached parts of a mud flood-protection levee, washing away homes and farms, said Abdul Gafar, who lost his mud-and-straw hut.

More than 200,000 villagers were marooned as floodwaters submerged their homes and croplands in the two districts, located about 60 miles east of Sylhet city, said a local resident, Abdul Khalique Tapadar.

Many villagers, along with their cattle, were sheltering on higher ground or in concrete school buildings, he added.

Floodwaters also submerged roads, railway lines and ferry terminals, disrupting transportation in the districts, while parts of Sylhet city were also inundated in knee-deep water, witnesses said.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 144 million people, is prone to seasonal floods and cyclones.