News Desk :
About 5 lakh people have been left marooned in a number of northern districts in the Brahmaputra basin and central Bangladesh as the water level in major rivers crossed the danger mark in the second phase of the flood, after the first one which lasted about 10 days left the locals and their lives in a battered state.
Officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and district administrations said major rivers were flowing above danger marks at 10 points of Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra and Sirajganj at 9am Tuesday.
On the other hand, Deputy Minister for disaster management and relief Enamur Rahman at a press briefing on Tuesday said some 2.94 lakh families have been stranded in 17 districts inundated by flood waters in northern and central Bangladesh.
He said about 20,000 people have taken 1,035 government shelters in 12 districts,’ he said adding that the government had already allocated 8,220 tonnes of rice and Tk 2.82 crore to be distributed in cash among the flood victims. The minister said that Tk 46 lakh was also allocated for buying baby foods to help flood affected families. The government also allocated an additional Tk 46 lakh for buying fodder, he said. ‘We have decided to cook at shelter centres to feed the victims,’ said Enam. A total of Tk 60 lakh has been given to the 12 district administrations running the shelters to feed them, he said.
Meanwhile, a bulletin of Bangladesh Meteorological Department on Tuesday said that the flood situation of Kurigram, Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Bogura, Jamalpur, Sitajganj, Tagail, Natore, Naogaon, Munshiganj, Faraidpur, Madaripur, Rajbari, and Dhaka may deteriorate.
However, the flood situation of Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona and Rangpur may improve.
The water level at Aricha point of Jamuna River may cross the danger level in next 24 hours.
However, the water level of Teesta and Dharla rivers may decrease in the next 24 hours, the bulletin added.
In Jamalpur, Kurigram and Gaibandha, more than 500,000 people were left marooned until Tuesday morning as fresh areas were flooded, leaving people and domestic animals fell into a sudden crisis of food and fodder.
The situation deteriorated in these districts following a rise in water levels of major rivers due to an increase in the rate of onrushing water from the upstream inundating fresh areas in the last 24 hours.
Moreover, erosion again also started causing more damage to several areas in Sirajganj, Dinajpur and Pabna.
However, the flood situation marked significant improvement alongside the Teesta in Nilphamari during the same period and deterioration in three upazilas of Rangpur and adjoining Lalmonirhat districts.
In Jamalpur, Jamuna has been flowing 99 centimetres (cm) above the danger mark at Bahadurbad point, confirmed Executive Engineer Md Abu Sayeed of the district’s WDB office.
Ariful Islam, the executive engineer of Kurigram WDB, told media that the Brahmaputra would continue to rise until the next 48 hours but Teesta and Dharla would begin to recede.
In Gaibandha, Brahmaputra crossed its danger mark on Monday night inundating the river basin areas including char ones.
On the other hand, the Teesta and the Ghagot were also flowing just below their respective danger marks on Tuesday morning, reports BSS quoting Executive Engineer Mokhlasur Rahman of BWDB.
The water levels in the Brahmaputra rose by 17 cm, the Ghagot 11 cm and Karatoa 15 cm during the period.
In Sirajganj, the Jamuna was flowing 39cm and 69cm above the danger mark at the Zila point and Kazipur upazila point, respectively, on Tuesday morning.
In Pabna, Jamuna was flowing 0.16cm below the danger mark in Mathurapoint while the Padma has been flowing 1.66cm below the danger mark at Hardinge Bridge point in Pakshi, according to Abdul Hamid, executive engineer of the district WDB.
Locals in these riverbank areas were living in fear as erosion has already claimed their farmland and house during the first phase of flood this season.
Residents of these areas demanded effective preventative actions as a number of homes, mosques and educational institutions are currently at risk of being taken by erosion.
