While the rest of the country turns on vacation mode, heading home to celebrate Eid with at least three days of leave, dozens of families in remote northeastern Bangladesh left their houses for shelters, fleeing a potential flash flood.
For some of the families, this is the second time in the month that they are forced to seek refuge in shelters to avoid living in swamped villages owing to overflowing transboundary rivers.
Vast swathes in the northeastern region remained submerged for over two weeks, with thousands stranded due to continued torrential rain in north-eastern areas and upstream across the border in India.
鈥楲and surfaces that emerged after days began disappearing again amid rivers swelling again,鈥� said Priti Bhusan Das, project implementation officer, Balaganj, Sylhet.
Ten people came to stay at the flood shelter at Megherkandi government primary school in Balaganj, he said, adding that many more families went to their relatives seeking shelter.
People living along the rivers in the Meghna basin are no strangers to flash flooding, but they realised that their frequency of leaving home and the length of their stay outside home increased.
The flash flood scare also gripped people living in the Teesta basin, amid river swelling and forecasts of an impending flash flood.
The Teesta reached danger levels in Gangtok and Jalpaiguri, flowing above its banks in places, prompting authorities in the area to sound a flash flood alarm.
After almost two days of incessant rain, rivers, including the Teesta, in Sikkim swelled, rushing at massive speed downstream towards Bangladesh.
At least six people were killed in Sikkim, and scores of houses were washed away by the onrush of water.
鈥楾he flood in India is likely to move downstream fast,鈥� said Anarul Haque, a farmer of Doani village, which is by the Teesta River in Lalmonirhat.
The dwellers of numerous chars in the Teesta noticed a rapid rise in the water level.
Many char dwellers visited their crop fields with apprehension but found no way to escape the impending disaster.
The people of northern and northeastern Bangladesh live in flood plains of rivers fed by the great Himalayas.
This is just the beginning of the monsoon when 80 per cent of annual rainfall occurs.
River encroachment, unplanned expansion of towns and cities, and infrastructure blocking the natural way of rivers only add to their woes.
The northeastern region is particularly vulnerable to聽 frequent flooding because of its geographical status鈥攁 land depression at the base of some of the world鈥簊 wettest places, including Cherrapunji in Meghalaya.
In Sylhet鈥檚 Osmani Nagar upazila, people were seen taking shelter in flood shelters.
Sylhet town itself has been flooded at least three times since the beginning of the month.
鈥榃e sacrificed our wish to sacrifice animals this Eid,鈥� said Shafiqur Rahman, a farmer of Boropathor village at Birashri union of Jakiganj, the worst affected place in Sylhet.
Abdus Sattar, chairman of the Birashri union parishad, was without a clue as to where the people would congregate for Eid prayers.
The river Kusiyara has been flowing over the danger mark at Fenchuganj since June 2, according to the local office of the Water Development Board.
On Friday, Kusiyara was flowing 49 centimetres above the danger mark at 3:00pm.聽
In the 24 hours until 6:00am on Friday, Sylhet received 202mm of rainfall, the local office of Bangladesh Meteorological Department said.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre listed 18 places where over 40mm of rainfall occurred in the 24 hours until 9:00am on Friday, with the highest 110mm of rain recorded in Sherpur, Sylhet.
In a warning issued on Friday afternoon, the FFWC warned that the Teesta, Dharla, and Dudhkumar rivers in the northern region and some rivers in the northeastern region might rapidly swell at times over the next 72 hours.
鈥楾he rivers are likely to cross their danger level, triggering floods,鈥� said Sarder Udoy Raihan, executive engineer of the FFWC.
He, however, said that the flood might not linger.
The Brahmaputra might swell over the week after June 17, the day Eid-ul-Azha is going to be celebrated, and might briefly cross the danger mark at one or two places, he said.
At 9:00am on Friday, the Teesta was 55cm below the danger mark at Dalia in Lalmonirhat and 35cm below the danger mark at Kaunia in Rangpur. Given the flashy nature of the Teesta, it is on the brink of overflowing.
The India Meteorological Department, in a bulletin on Friday afternoon, predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall over vast swathes in sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manirampur, Mizoram, and Tripura鈥攁ll in Bangladesh鈥檚 upstream鈥攐ver the next week.
The IMD also issued an extreme heavy rainfall, which is about 200mm a day, warning for Assam and Meghalaya on June 17 and 18. While runoff from Meghalaya uses the Meghna basin to pass through, Assam runoff passes through both the Brahmaputra and Meghna basins.
The BMD, in its 24-hour bulletin issued at 6:00pm on Friday, predicted light to moderate rain accompanied by temporary gusty wind at most places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions, at many places over Chattogram division, at a few places over Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions, and at one or two places over Khulna and Barishal divisions.
Rainfall activity might increase over the next five days, the bulletin said, also adding that a mild heat wave was sweeping through the Khulna division and the district of Gopalganj, with chances of it continuing.
An intense feeling of heat made it uncomfortable due to heavy moisture incursions. At 6:00pm on Friday, the moisture content in the air was 79 per cent, slightly less than in the morning.
The BMD said that the real feel, which is the combined effect of moisture and temperature, in Dhaka was 42C on Friday.
鈥楾he overall situation does not look very good. A lot of rain seems to be on the way,鈥� said meteorologist Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik.
