Ehsanul Haque Jasim :
The flood situation has remained unchanged in some districts and worsened further in some others with rising of water in the country’s major rivers, inundating fresh areas.
Over 50 lakh people in 20 districts have been marooned in the flood. But, the Department of Disaster Management said on Wednesday that about 34 lakh people in 12 districts had been affected by the ongoing flood.
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. The flood-hit people of the districts are facing untold miseries in absence relief materials, including dry food and pure drinking water.
Thousands of hectres of lands of newly transplanted Ropa Aman and vegetable field have gone under floodwater. The supply of vegetables is being hampered.
According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the major rivers were flowing above the danger level at 23 points. The water level registered rise at 53 stations on Wednesday. It may continue to rise.
Talking to The New Nation on Wednesday, Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, Sub-Divisional Engineer and Duty Officer of the FFWC, said that the overall flood situation in the country might deteriorate in the next 48 hours, as most of the country’s major rivers were in rising trend. The FFWC official also said that the flood situation worsened further in some parts of the country due to incessant rainfall over the last couple of days as well as onrush of hilly water from the upstream.
In Kurigram, over five lakh people in all the nine upazilas of the district have remained marooned for the last 10-11 days, as the water level in major rivers like the Brahmaputra, the Teesta and the Dharla have been flowing above the danger levels due to the heavy rains. Over 500 villages under 63 unions of the upazilas have been affected in the flood.
The road communications have been disrupted in several parts of the district. The flood-hit people are facing crisis of 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, these are not sufficient. The DC said that they had sent letter to the higher authorities requesting additional 500 metric tones of rice and Tk. 10,000,00/- as relief for the flood-hit people.
According the Water Development Board (WDB), the water level in the Dharla River marked rise by 25 cm at Kurigram station on Wednesday. The river was flowing 45 cm above the danger level there. The Teesta was flowing 25 cm above the danger level at Dalia point. The other rivers were also in rising trend. The water level of the Brahmaputra increased by 17 cm at Chilmari point, 17 cm at Nunkhaya point and 10 cm at Kaunia point, said Mahfuzur Rahman, Executive Engineer of Kurigram WDB.
Officials at the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said about Aman crops on some 56,000 hectares of fields have been inundated, posing a great threat to the rice output of the district.
In Nilphamari, fresh areas of the district went under floodwater on Wednesday due to heavy rainfall and onrush of hilly water from the upstream. At least 10 thousand families of 10 unions under Dimla and Jhaldhaka upazilas have been affected in the flood. At least 25 chars and low-lying areas of the 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 against the demand. In Rangpur, the farmers will face losses of Tk. 765 crore due to the flooding in the district. Aman paddy, vegetables and other crops of at least 82 thousands of hectres of lands had been damaged, said the DAE. The officials of the DAE said that it would be difficult to recover the losses, as the seedlings were also affected in the flood.
In Natore, low-lying areas of the district town, including Kanaikhali, Potuapara, Bolaripara, Chakrampur and Harispur, have gone under water while the road network with several parts of the district has collapsed due to flooding. Water entered residences of many people, while educational activities have been closed in different areas in the district.
Mayor of Natore Municipality Emdadul Haque Al Mamun said that different roads of the district town went under knee-deep to ankle-deep water due to incessant rains for last several days. The newly transplanted Aman went under floodwater in several parts of the district.
In Sylhet, vast areas of Kanaighat, Jainatapur, Goainghat, Companiganj and Jakiganj upazilas went under floodwater. Ankle-deep to knee-deep water was witnessed on the roads of Kanaighat upazila sadar on Wednesday. Such situation was also witnessed in the several other parts of the district.
The water level in the Surma River was flowing above danger level at several points. According to the WDB, the Surma was flowing 149 cm above the danger level at Kanaigaht point, while it was flowing 49 cm at Sylhet point. The level was 31 cm previous day. The Kushiyara, the Sarigowain and other rivers were also flowing above the danger level. The water level at Kushiyara increased eight cm at Amalshid point on Wednesday and the river was flowing 56 cm above the danger level.
In Sunamganj, the Surma River was flowing 51 cm above the danger level at Sunamganj Sadar. The Oldsurma and the Khowai were flowing above the danger level at several points. The incessant rainfall since Sunday last had flooded low-lying areas in Sadar, Doarabazar, Bishambharpur, Tahirpur and Jagannathpur upazilas. About 20,000 hectares of paddy fields have already been inundated, according to the DAE.
