The runway on the outskirts of the northeastern city went up to 10 inches under water that damaged about 150 feet of the compound wall on the northern edge of the tarmac on Sunday night.

Four flights to Sylhet of Biman Bangladesh Airlines -- both local and international -- and three of GMG Airlines were cancelled yesterday, officials said.

About 90 percent of Sylhet city and its adjacent areas went 3 to 4 feet under water. Commercial hubs and markets in the city were flooded, costing businesspeople crores of taka in lost property.

Rail and road links between the northeast and Dhaka were in on-and-off operation: Sunamganj-Sylhet Road went 5 feet under water and the rail service remained snapped for five hours as trees blocked the railroads between substations.

The floods in northern districts are likely to pick up pace as different rivers surged in the wake of downpour twinned with runoff from India's hilly areas, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre warned.

According to news dispatches from the flood-ravaged districts, at least 15 people died in the last three days, bringing the death toll from flooding to 70 in Bangladesh since the beginning of monsoon, blamed for the deluge in two other South Asian countries India and Nepal.

The flood-hit people in most areas were not provided with adequate relief and it has become a mockery of aid distribution as a victim received less than Tk 1.

Reuters reports that five people drowned when a boat sank in a flooded river near Sylhet yesterday.

IN AND AROUND CAPITAL

Sufferings of about one million people around the capital have intensified, as floodwaters inundated the eastern fringe of the city.

Hundreds of people in Keraniganj moved to high ground abandoning their homes, as floods are closing in on more low-lying areas.

The Turag, Balu and Shitalakkha rivers, flowing fast on the eastern side of the city, flooded unprotected areas. Floodwaters that rolled down to the centre from upstream swept thousands of houses in Amulia, Mendipur, Kaekpara and Paiti in Demra.

People in vast low-lying areas behind Khilgaon, Shahjahanpur and Bashabo are using country boats for commuting in suburbs. All roads in and out of Manda, Madartek, Dakkhingaon and Dumuni have been reeling under floodwaters.

LEFT TO STARVE

Most families in Dhunat in Bogra and Kazipur upazila in Sirajganj marooned in the wake of Dhunat embankment sabotage pass their days in starvation as government relief reached only a few of them, while the water level climbs by the day because of ceaseless downpour.

Dhunat-Sherpur Road is a few centimetres to go under water and Dhunat will be disconnected by road link from the rest of the country if the road is flooded.

About 5 lakh stranded people in the two upazilas still wait to be rescued, but the government has not taken any step. Waterborne diseases such as dysentery and diarrhoea broke out among over the flood-affected people who took shelter on roads.

Asked, local Union Parishad Chairman Monul Hossain Mukul said: "I don't have a full list of the affected families."

People in Bhandarbari union have received some relief since the dam was breached apparently by saboteurs on July 14, but none in the rest eight unions got relief until now.

Starving families are frightened by the breakout of waterborne diseases in Kazipur, most of which is under water. Most diarrhoea patients did not get oral saline, as medical teams working in the upazilas could not reach them.

FLOODING RAGES

Three people drowned in floodwaters in Sherpur on Friday and Saturday. A sharp rise in the Shomeshwari, Mograra, Kangsha and Donu submerged several upazilas in Netrokona, our correspondent reported. Mymensingh Sadar upazila has gone under water as the Brahmaputra rose further.

Rushing waters washed away four children in Kushtia and Boror Char unions on Saturday afternoon.

Flood-hit people who moved to safety are passing their days with a little or no food, as no relief was distributed there.

Our Barisal corespondent reports that the floods in Barisal division deteriorated killing a 6-year-old boy. Twenty villages went up to 4 feet floodwater marooning thousands of people.

Surging water washed away about 20 metres of the town protection embankment along the Ghagot river in Kajoldhop in Sadullapur upazila and 40 meters at Rayerbazar in Gobindaganj in Gaibandha.