A man has floated his mother’s body on a raft with a note asking strangers to bury his mother in a dry place.
Such a heartbreaking incident took place in the Tanguar Haor area under Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj on Sunday, said Haor Development Council president Kashmir Reza.
“On Sunday morning, we visited Tanguar Haor and Bishwambharpur areas to distribute relief goods and inspect the flood situation. On our way to the Bhater Tech shelter centre in Bishwambharpur, we witnessed the tragic scene,” said Reza.
Helpless relatives are floating bodies in the water with a note asking for burial as the devastating floods inundated the whole area, he added.
Ali Ahmed Murad, chairman of South Sreepur union under Tahirpur, mentioned another incident of people floating bodies.
“Alamin, the two-year-old son of Renu Miah of Nai Nagar village, drowned in the flood waters. Later, the parents floated their son’s body in the water as they were unable to bury him in a dry place,” he said.
Shabiur Rahim Zakir, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Bishwambharpur, said: “90% of the area in my upazila has been flooded. The cemeteries in these areas have also been inundated. As a result, there is no available place for burying bodies and incidents like these are very common in this situation.”
Tahirpur UNO Raihan Kabir said: “All the unions and villages in my area, including cemeteries, have been submerged in the flood waters.”
Noting the worsening situation in the area, Haor Development Council president Kashmir Reza said inhumane conditions were prevailing in the haor area. Relief supplies were yet to reach many affected areas. Conditions in Madhyanagar, Tahirpur, Dharmapasha and Shalla areas were the worst. He added that it was very difficult to reach those areas and so people were not receiving any relief there.
People of Sylhet division have been experiencing severe floods for the last one week as around 80% areas of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts have been flooded, leaving four million people marooned.
Several deaths have been reported in the division due to the devastating floods. However, there is no dry place to bury bodies as whole areas have been inundated.
As a result, helpless people in the area have been forced to float their relatives’ bodies in the flood waters.
