Staff Reporter :
More than 50,000 families living in the Teesta basin have been affected due to deterioration of flood situation in the northern part of the country. Many residences in the basin went under ankle to knee-deep water, causing immense sufferings to the people.
They along with their livestock have taken shelter on the flood embankments and different educational institutions. The local administration of Nilphamari said that they were working to move the residents to safer location.
The Water Development Board (WDB) has kept all the 44 gates of the Teesta Barrage open to tame the flood situation. The WDB officials on Thursday said that the flood situation deteriorated in the Teesta basin due to rise of water level in the Teesta River following heavy rainfall and onrush of hilly water from India. They held opening of the gates of Gazoldoba Barrage in India responsible for the severe flood.
Executive Engineer of the WDB of Dalia Mostafizur Rahman said that they had issued red alert in the Teesta basin due to rising trend of the water level. He also said the flood situation has been created due to opening of the gates of Gazoldoba Barrage. According to Sarder Udoy Raihan, Assistant Engineer of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the Teesta at Dalia point was flowing 45 centimeters above the danger level on Thursday. The water level may continue to rise. He, however, said that the water level of all other major rivers, including the Ganges, the Padma, the Brahmaputra, the Jamuna, the Surma and Kushiyara, continued to fall, leading to improvement in the country’s flood situation.
In the severe flood, the embankment on the Charkharibari border in Tepakharibari union under Dimla upazila of Lalmonirhat was damaged on Wednesday night. For this reason, hundreds of residences in the area went under floodwater. The local people were trying to protect the embankment. Pubachhatnai, Khagakharibari, Khalia Chanpani, Jhunagachh Chanpani and Goyabari villages of the upazila were also affected severely in the flood.
On the other hand, the bank of the Teesta at Gulmunda, Dhauabari, Soulmari, Koimari and some other parts in Jhaldhaka upazila had been threatened. The villages were inundated due to onrush of upstream water in Teesta River. Many people were evacuated to the local educational institutions.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Nilphamari district Zakir Hossain said that they were monitoring the flood situation. The administration was working hardly to face the situation. They were also working to move the flood-hit people to safer location, he added.
