In riverine Bangladesh, flooding is a daily companion. Just as lack of rain dries up not only the fields of this country but also people’s throats, excessive rain again drowns houses and even people themselves. Floods in this country take a terrible form not just because of rain but also due to political reasons. For example, Feni, Noakhali, Comilla, Laxmipur, and Chittagong were submerged as the Farakka Dam was opened. However, has the flood only drowned people's houses? Does it not sink their livelihood, cherished dreams, or everything?

Due to India's opening of the Farakka Dam, Bangladesh has witnessed one of the worst floods in its long history. Millions worth of assets and properties have been lost. Various businesses including fish enclosures, chicken farms, and livestock have seen losses. The lives of businessmen and their families are moving towards an uncertain future. Not just these businesses, but those whose business relies on tourism in Bangladesh are also not good.

Those who provide houseboat facilities in Sunamganj and Rangamati are also facing trouble. Due to the lack of tourists due to floods, the loss is being faced day after day. Again there is uncertainty about the salary of those who work in these houseboats.

Sunamganj of Sylhet Division is famous for Tanguar Haor. Tourists come to Tahirpur in Sunamganj for sightseeing. Shimul Bagan, Jadukata River, and overnight stays in houseboats are the most attractive sites for tourists. But in this flood, many houseboats are left empty now.

Some of the houseboats also shelter flood victims. Many of the houseboats have stopped all tourist-oriented services.

A tourist who visited Tanguar Haor recently said, "Floods in Sylhet division could not be a threat this time. But some low-lying places here are submerged in water almost every monsoon. The fact that these low-lying places are submerged in water has spread in various ways on social media and created rumors. So people are not coming here for the time being thinking there's a flood. Many people booked rooms in the houseboats earlier but canceled the booking later due to which the houseboat owners are facing huge losses.

When booking a houseboat, guests are assured of all kinds of facilities, starting from food to recreation. Due to the cancellation of bookings, the businessmen have faced losses. Moreover, business in this region is centered on Tanguar Haor for 4/5 months. If the business is closed even for 1/2 month due to a flood or rumors spread on social media platforms, then the entire tourism sector of the region suffers. Basically, almost every person in that region is dependent on this tourism sector. During this season, small children also do business by ferrying tourists around in boats. The people of this region are the biggest sufferers because of floods or rumors of floods."

Like Sunamganj, Rangamati also provides houseboat facilities to tourists. These houseboat owners conduct their business around Kaptai Lake. CEO of "Royal Adventure - A Luxury Pleasure Boat", Mohiuddin Majumdar Ananda said, "I have a houseboat in Rangamati. Due to the current flood situation or rain, landslides occurred in Rangamati, which disrupted the road traffic. In addition, everywhere people are a bit scared because of the flood situation. In fact, people have not been going out much for tourism for the last two months. Due to agitations and floods from July to August, people are staying indoors and not traveling outside. This is causing a lot of damage to the tourism industry. Due to this people are not going to travel even in our houseboat as well. Running a houseboat costs at least one to one and a half lacs of taka per month. Which is like a sore throat on the die in the last two months.

Many people visit Rangamati during monsoon. When it rains in the mountains, there is water in the springs. But this time as there is a flood situation, people are not coming out of their houses. Apart from this, because of heavy rains, various areas were flooded due to landslides in the mountains and water from Mizoram in India came to Rangamati. Water accumulates in low-lying areas of Rangamati. Especially in Baghaichari Bangaltali, Karengatali, these areas flood situations are caused due to mountain landslides. At several places in Rangamati, landslides occurred on the roads, causing a lot of damage to the roads. Due to this vehicles going from Dhaka to Rangamati are not able to move. Most of our passengers come from Dhaka for sightseeing. Many people are unable to go to Rangamati due to road closures in such a situation. We have faced huge losses in the last two months. Only the initial cost of the boat is two and a half to three lacs of taka which our staff has to pay. After that, if we could do business for the last two months, we would have earned around 8 to 10 lakh rupees every month. In the last two months, we have lost Tk 20 lacs there.”

On the one hand, the water has blessed this country with fertility; On the other hand, this water has destroyed thousands of dreams. But the people who tilled the soil of Bengal know how to turn back to nature. The hard-working people of Bengal know how to weave dreams into a new web that has been washed away. So the setting sun wakes up again and again on this side of Bengal, to teach us to dream and sometimes to teach us to cherish our dreams.