No mud houses standing in many flooded areas in Satkhira

Many villages in the severely flooded areas in Satkhira district have been deserted by the people whose mud (earthen) houses are caving in or on the verge of collapse. No mud house was found standing on Sunday in many of the worst-affected areas, said local people.

They said that the mud houses in less affected areas, where water has remained stagnant for weeks, have become weak and many of them were collapsing everyday.

According to the Disaster Management Information Centre of the Disaster Management Bureau, 8,26,124 people of 1,95,562 families have been affected in these 66 unions and 2 municipalities, and 27,966 families have taken shelter in 288 shelters, due to the increase of water-level caused by the heavy rainfall and the onrush water from upstream.

Satkhira's district relief office said that a total of 20,529 houses collapsed totally and 32,972 houses were partly damaged due to flood in the district.

Official sources in the local administrations and the affected people said the real number of damaged houses would be higher as more houses are being damaged and collapsing everyday.

'The Kagojipara locality of Kanaidia has only one house, which is built of corrugated iron sheets, that is still standing, but no one lives there now as it's under three feet of water,' said Sheikh Habibur Rahman of Kanaidia village in Tala upazila, who has been transporting passengers by boat on floodwater.

'The situation is the same in almost all the villages of Krishnakathi, Kanaidia, Char Kanaidia and Atghara in my union, where none of the mud houses are still standing,' M Mafidul Haque Litu, chairman of Jalalpur union under Tala upazila, told New Age.

He said that most of the mud houses of the rest of the union's villages — Jethua, Nehalpur, Dohar and Atulia — have already collapsed and the remaining are on the point of collapse.

Almost all the mud houses have collapsed in the badly affected Sonabandhal, Harinkhola, Rajnagar Chak and Kulpota villages of my union, and most of the people have left them for shelter elsewhere,' SM Liakat Hossain, chairman of Kheshra UP under the upazila, told New Age.

'You will find no people in many neighbourhoods of Bashundhara, Binirpota and Asan Nagar villages of Satkhira Sadar upazila as the water there is still higher than knee-level,' said 65-year-old Daud Ali of Basundhara in Satkhira Sadar upazila.

'There is no mud house remaining undamaged in my village,' said Md Rajab Ali of Deyara village

under Kolaroa upazila.

Satkhira's deputy commissioner, Md Abdus Samad, told New Age that many people who left their houses have begun to go home as the water has already begun to recede.

Source : New Age

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