DHAKA, Reuter: Monsoon floods in Northeast Bangladesh have inundated at least 10 towns and cut road and rail links ‘with Dhaka, officials said.
They said the Khowai river, swollen by eight inches (20 cm) of rain in two days, bad flooded railway lines near Shaistaganj and the Muhuri river had disrupted power supplies at Moulvi Bazar.
The main road between Dhaka and Sylhet was severed and most towns’ people evacuated from Habiganj, There were no reports of casualties.
In India’s neighbouring Assam state, army assault craft ran rescue missions after at least 360,000 people were marooned by the flooding, official sources said.
Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted them as saying more than 300 villages in Cachart district were under water and 30,000 hectres (72,000 acres) of paddy had been destroyed.
About 45 villages in Golaghat District were submerged as the Dhansiri river cut roads and bridges and 9,000 people were evacuated to relief camps near the border with Bangladesh.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 17, 1986
