More char and low-laying areas in Sirajganj, Kurigram and Sherpur districts have gone under water as the flood situation continues to worsen with the constant rise in the water level of the Jamuna and the Brahmaputra rivers. The situation may deteriorate further due to heavy rainfall and onrush of water from the upstream.
However, the flood situation in Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Bogra, Nilphamari, Tangail and Netrokona remained unchanged yesterday. Thousands of people are leading a miserable life under the open sky for want of food and drinking water, reports our district correspondents.
The flood is now heading around Dhaka city from the north, after affecting several lakh people in the northern districts over the past few days. The onrushing flood is likely to submerge some of the low-lying areas around Dhaka and also Narayanganj due to further rise in the Padma and Sitalakhya rivers.
The water of all four rivers around the capital — Balu, Turag, Shitalakkhya and Buriganga — will rise when the flood hits the country’s central part, according to Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).
Meanwhile, people in some localities surrounding the capital Dhaka and its outskirts have started making boats apprehending flood anytime. It is to be noted that the 1998 flood, that matches that of 1954, had engulfed almost the entire Bangladesh, including Dhaka city. The dwellers of the capital city were so seriously affected at that time that they had to move from one place to another by boats as almost the city roads had gone under water.
The flood situation in Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrokona districts will further deteriorate also due to heavy rainfall, while it will improve in Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts from Saturday. However, there is no possibility of further floods in Feni and Noakhali districts, as there is no warning of rain in the area, says the FFWC forecast.
The Teesta at Dalia, Ghagot at Gaibandha, Brahmaputra at Chilmari, Jamuna at Bahadurabad, Jamuna at Sariakandi, Jamuna at Serajganj, Jamuna at Aricha, Atrai at Baghabari, Dhaleswari at Elasin, Lakhya at Lakhpur, Padma at Goalundo, Padma at Sureswar, Surma at Sunamganj, Kangsha at Jariajanjail and the Old Surma at Derai are flowing above their danger levels at 15 points respectively.
As reported, several lakh marooned people in the north continue to pass their days without food and drinking water. The government has allocated 1,500 tonnes of rice alongside cash for the people in the affected districts, including Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Rangpur, Netrokona, Sunamganj, Bogra, Sirajganj, Feni, Chandpur, Manikganj, Nilphamari, Cox’s Bazar and Naogaon.
But the relief is yet to reach most of the people. Worse still, the authorities have yet to determine the number of affected people, particularly those in the 12 northern districts.
In Sirajganj, the overall flood situation in the district remained unchanged yesterday, but sufferings of the flood-affected people have increased. The Jamuna near Sirajganj town has risen by 2 cm in the last 24 hours, Zulfiker Tareq, sub-divisional engineer of the WDB in Sirajganj said.
District administration sources said about 3 lakh people of 250 villages in 40 unions of nine upazilas in the district have been marooned. About 50,000 of weaving factories, including handloom and powerloom, in Belkuchi, Shahzadpur, Sirajganj Sadar and Kazipur upazilas have been shut down due to floods. As a result, several lakhs of weavers and workers have become jobless. The flood-hit people, who took shelter on flood control embankments and high lands, have been passing their days and nights in a miserable condition due to lack of food and drinking water. They are yet to get any government relief due to insufficient allocation.
Deputy Commissioner Md. Billal Hossain claimed that they have distributed Tk. 40,000 among the flood-hit people of Kazipur upazila and Tk. 50,000 among people of Sirajganj Sadar upazila. At least 200 dairy farm owners in Shahzadpur and Ullapara upazilas are facing problems with their cattle, as most of the pasture lands in the area have gone under water.
On the other hand, with the rising of the water level for the past few days, erosion by the Jamuna has taken a serious turn at different places, including Enayetpur and Chowhali, in the district. A 200-metre stretch of earthen track at Enayetpur has been washed away by the river, while several parts of Chowhali upazila headquarters went under water due to strong currents.
Besides, many areas, including Aguria, Aguriarchar, Randhunibari, Harinathpur, Bil Mohisha, Meghai, Maizebari, Natuarpara and Thekuria, are now under threat of erosion.
In Kurigram, about 1.5 lakh people under 53 unions have become marooned due to the flooding. About 15,000 hectares of crop fields in those areas have been inundated, sources in the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said.
BWDB executive engineer Abu Taher said the Brahmaputra river is flowing 8cm above the danger level at Chilmari point in the district. The water level of the Teesta and the Dharla rivers are still on the increasing trend while that of Dudhkumar is decreasing.
According to the BWDB officials at its Kurigram control room, about 2km embankment along the Teesta river at Dangarhat in Rajarhat upazila has been eroded due to the flooding.
About 1,000 houses have been washed away at Ghogadaha, Panchgachhi, Mogolbasa, Bhogdanga and Holokhana unions in Sadar upazila over the last couple of days.
Sadar upazila parishad chairman Panir Uddin Ahmed said many new and small chars of the Dharla-Dudhkumar-Gangadhar-Brahmaputra river system have been inundated and the people of those areas are facing immense sufferings due to the flooding.
In Sherpur, 56 homesteads have on the course of the Old Brahmaputra river at Kulurchar in Sadar upazila .
The Old Brahmaputra is flowing 17cm above the danger level at Sherpur Ferry Ghat point, said officials of BWDB.
In Jamalpur, over 100,000 people in five upazilas of Islampur, Dewanganj, Melandah, Madarganj and Sharishabari in the district have been marooned, as the flood situation in the district has further worsened.
WDB executive engineer of Jamalpur Naba Kumar Chowdhury said that residents of 25 union parishads in Islampur, Dewanganj, Melandah, Madarganj, and Sharishabarhi upazilas are stuck in their villages as the Jamuna continued to rise.
Thousands of flood-affected people in the district were leading a miserable life due to shortage of food and drinking water. The government’s relief efforts are inadequate, locals say. Low-lying areas in these localities, including a number of schools, have gone under water. Standing crops on 9,787 hectares have been damaged, according to local agriculture office sources.
In Jamalpur, some 9,787 hectares of cropland went under water affecting Aus, Aman, transplant Aman, sugarcane and vegetables fields, our district correspondent reports, citing officials of the agricultural extension department.
Around 300 families remained marooned in Islampur, the worst hit upazila of the district.
