Ehsanul Haque Jasim :The flood situation has remained unchanged in the affected districts and the distressed people sufferings continued for scarcity of relief, dry food and pure drinking water. About 60 lakh people in 24 districts have been marooned in the flood. According to the Department of Disaster Management, the flood had hit a large area of the country severely due to incessant rain and onrush of hilly water from the upstream. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya urged the richmen and country’s philanthropists to come forward to help the flood-hit people. He gave the call while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat in the city on Thursday. The minister said that the flood might continue for five to seven days more. He assured that the affected people wouldn’t face food shortage. He said that the government had already allocated 7,225 tonnes of rice for the flood-hit people. He urged the Health Ministry to take step to ensure health service. According to reports, the flood-affected districts are Kurigram, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Natore, Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Netrakona, Shariatpur, Sirajganj, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Bhola, Satkhira, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Khagrachari. Vast areas of the districts have gone under floodwater. Thousands of hectres of agriculture lands with newly transplanted Ropa Aman and vegetables had also been affected in the flood. According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the major rivers are flowing above the danger level at 20 points on Thursday. The water level registered rise at 38 points. The FFWC officials said that the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna were on rising trend on Thursday, which may continue in next 72 hours. The Ganges was on falling trend, while the Padma was on steady. The Ganges may register fall while the Padma may likely to rise in next 48 hours. They also said that the rivers of northeastern part of the country were also in rising trend except the Surma and the Kushiyara. The two major rivers, however, were flowing above danger level at several points, including Amalshid, Kanaighat, Sylhet and Sunamganj. Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, Sub-Divisional Engineer and Duty Officer of the FFWC, said that the overall flood situation in the North and the Central part of the country might deteriorate in the next 24 hours, while the flood situation in the North-Eastern part of the country may likely to improve. He also said that the rivers around the Dhaka city were on rising trend, which may likely to continue in next 72 hours. In Kurigram, the flood situation further worsened in the district on Thursday, as the water level in the Brahmaputra and the Dharla marked rise at different stations of the rivers. According the Water Development Board (WDB), the water level in the Brahmaputra marked rise by 18 cm at Chilmari point, while the Dharla marked rise by three cm at Kurigram point. The Dharla was flowing 48 cm above the danger level there, said Mahfuzur Rahman, Executive Engineer of Kurigram WDB. Over five lakh people in nine upazilas of the district are still marooned. They are crying for dry food and pure drinking water. Many people did not get relief materials. The day labourers are facing acute crisis, as there is no work. Deputy Commissioner of Kurigram Md Nurul Amin said that the administration distributed 250 metric tones of rice and cash Tk. 2,50,000/- among the flood-hit people. However, it not sufficient. The DC said that they were hardly trying to help the flood-hit people.In Sirajganj, the flood hit fresh areas on Thursday. The water level in the Jamuna River was on rising trend. The water level in the river marked rise by 16 cm at Sirajganj point, while it was 19 cm at Sariakandi and 21 com at Bahadurabad. The Jamuna was flowing 42, 46 and 36 cm above the danger level in the points respectively. At least 25 thousand families in the district’s different upazilas have been marooned. They are facing crisis of dry food and pure drinking water. Although the government allocated 114 metric tonnes of rice and cash Tk. 2,70,000 at the beginning of the flood, there was no allocation last week. The distressed people are looking for relief materials. In Nilphamari, fresh areas of the district went under floodwater on Thursday due to heavy rainfall and onrush of hilly water from the upstream. At least 20 thousand families at Dimla and Jhaldhaka upazilas and some other parts of the district have been affected in the flood. At least 25 chars and low-lying areas of the two upazilas have been affected adversely. The flood-hit people are facing acute crisis of dry food and pure drinking water. Deputy Commissioner of Nilphamari Md Jakir Hossain said that the administration distributed 13 metric tones of rice and cash Tk. 55,000/ among the flood-hit people. The DC also distributed dry food among them. The local people said that the allocation was very poor considering the demand.
