Thousands of people were marooned in floodwaters in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha districts as the rivers Brahmaputra and Teesta burst their banks following heavy downpour and onrush of waters from upstream hilly areas.
These rivers are flowing above the danger level, while the Dharla, Ghaghat, Dudhkumar and other rivers are flowing near the danger level.
According to the authorities, more than 400,000 people are stranded in floodwaters in Nilphamari, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts.
At least 223 educational institutions in those districts have been declared closed.
The people have been facing severe scarcity of drinking water, sanitation, food, shelters and medicine.
In Lalmonirhat, more than half lakh people of shoal areas of Teesta and Dharla rivers were trapped in floodwater.
At least 63 villages of Hatibandha, Kaliganj, Aditmari and Lalmonirhat Sadar upazilas had been remaining under floodwaters for the past few days.
The water level of Teesta is flowing 18 centimetres above the danger level while Dharla is flowing above 13 centimetres above danger mark.
Embankments in Shiberkuti area of Kalughat upazila and in Dhuni area of Hatibandha collapsed as the Indian government has opened 54 gates of Gajaldoba barrage.
The people were suffering from scarcity of pure water, sanitation, food and shelters, witnesses said.
Water Development Board Sub-Divisional Engineer Hafizul Haque, stationed at Dalia Barrage, said the Teesta was flowing 30 centimetres above the danger level at that point.
The WDB has opened all 44 valves of the barrage to control the water.
Hafizul Haque said the water might rise more in the next two or three days.
Ataur Rahman, chairman of a union council in Dimla upazila, said that more than 10,000 people were affected by the floods in 30 villages of the Upazila.
Nazrul Islam and Mohsena Begum, inhabitants of Chhotokhata village, said they were living on dry food stored before the flood started.
Nilphamari Deputy Commissioner Khaled Rahim and Dimla Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rezaul Karim visited the flood-affected areas on Monday morning.
DC Rahim said 40 tonnes of rice and Tk 50,000 in cash has been allotted as relief for the flood-hit areas.
In Kurigram, the overall flood situation has further deteriorated as new areas are going under water due to the rise in water levels in all the rivers including Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
The water level of Brahmaputra is flowing 20 centimetres above the danger level at Chilmari point while Dharla at Bridge point is flowing 12 centimetres above the danger mark.
More than 1.5 lakh people of over 200 villages of Ulipur, Chilmari, Roumari, Rajibpur and Sadar upazilas have become marooned. Scarcity of food and pure water has become acute in the flood-affected areas and normal life is being hampered as many roads went under water.
Waterborne diseases were spreading fast in the flood-hit areas but no relief or medicine reached yet.
At least 80 educational institutes were shut down following the flood, said local people, adding that hundreds of hectares of cropland were inundated.
District Civil Surgeon SM Aminul Islam said a total of 88 medical teams have been formed for rendering services to the flood victims.
Moreover, the district health department has cancelled all kinds of leave of officials, employees, physicians and health assistants to meet emergency, he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Kurigram Abu Saleh Mohammad Ferdous Khan claimed that the situation was under control.
He said 2,000 packs of dry food, 150 tonnes of rice and Tk 325,000 have been distributed among the 41,000 victims.
Gaibandha is the worst-hit district in the region. The number of people stranded in flood has crossed 150,000. The situation is worsening every day.
Bangladesh Water Development Board Executive Engineer Mahbubur Rahman said that the Brahmaputra was flowing 17 centimetres above the danger level, but Ghaghot water is one centimetre below the level.
At least 130 families have lost their houses to river erosion in Erendabarhi union, said Union Council Chairman Azizur Rahman.
The primary and high schools, union council office and community clinic are also on the verge of collapse, he added.
He also claimed that no relief the families that lost homes received.
Gaibandha Deputy Commissioner Goutam Chandra Paul said the administration has adequate relief materials to distribute. “There will be no problem,” he said.
The District Administration has allotted 125 tonnes of rice and Tk 1 million in cash, he added.
