Khagrachari is a small town in the district of the same name.
Nestled in a valley ringed ýwith blue, magnificent hills, it is a
jewel in the crown of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of ýBangladesh. ý
Next to the town runs the rivulet known as the Chengi, which pours
its meagre stream ýinto the artificial lake of Kaptai. ý
Meagre stream? Most of the time: meagre, but lovely, especially when
its meanders are ýviewed from the hills. ý
However, on the night of the 16th of October, 2007, the Chengi
changed beyond ýrecognition. It had rained all night, and by dawn,
the river was a surge of rapid waters ýcarrying flotsam from the
hills. It was a magnificent sight!ý
A brief trip into the city, and the devastation wrought by the
usually docile Chengi was ýheartbreaking. People had woken up with
their houses flooded, their crops destroyed, ýtheir belongings
ruined….ý
And what was worse was that this was the second flash flood in a
month. But the ýprevious overflow of the monsoon had been mild. The
city people recalled that the last ýtime such a terrible flood had
occurred was in 1984. They are a hardy lot, and every year ýduring
monsoon – which lasts from June/July to September/October – they are
visited by ýat least one such calamity. ý
The Chengi reminded me of that famous line uttered by Mrs. Moore in
E. M. Forster's "A ýPassage to India": "What a terrible river…what a
beautiful river!" ý
The story of the flash flood is told in pictures below (please click
to view). ý
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7343&l=8ad2c&id=737674415
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