News Desk :
Thousands of people have taken shelter on rooftops in Tangail and Kurigram districts as floodwaters submerged their villages in the two districts for the last eleven days.
Besides, thousands of people have also been marooned in central Bangladesh as more than one hundred villages got inundated between Friday and Saturday.
The flood situation in Tangail and Kurigram remained unchanged since the major rivers in the districts are flowing above their danger level for the last eleven days, causing immense sufferings to the marooned people.
According to sources, over three million people have so far been marooned in 21 flood-affected districts and about 60,000 houses were damaged.
In addition, they said, at least 28 people have been killed as the flood spread from north, north-eastern districts to central Bangladesh over last two week.
Sufferings of the flood-hit people intensified due to crisis of pure drinking water and adequate relief materials.
The river Jamuna was flowing 12 cms above the danger level at Aricha until 9:00am Saturday as it swelled up by 42 cms over the last 24 hours, said Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre in a bulletin.
About 70 villages in five upazilas of Manikganj went under water leaving 70,000 people submerged in floodwaters.
Flooding in Manikganj, Faridpur, Mushiganj and Rajbari would continue to deteriorate over the next 24 hours until 9:00am on Sunday, the FFWC said.
A total of 14 rivers were flowing above their danger levels at 21 points along 15 districts, it said.
The Met Office recorded country’s highest rainfall of 26 mms at Dimla in Rangpur in 24 hours ending at 9:00am Saturday.
In Tangail, although water level of Jamuna River has decreased from the last few days, Dhaleshwari and Jhinai Rivers have continued to flow above the danger level, causing the flood situation to remain unchanged.
Water level of Jamuna River was flowing at 98cm above the danger level, while Dhaleshwari River at Elasin Bridge point was flowing at 140cm and Jhinai River at Jokarchar point was flowing at 85cm above the danger level yesterday morning.
Roads, schools and lands have become inundated due to the increasing water level.
Excessive water flow has also caused the main embankment on Bhuapur-Tarakandi road in Tepibari area in Tangail to break on Thursday night, flooding few nearby low-lying areas.
Bangladesh Army is helping the Water Development Board to fix the damaged dam.
In Kurigram, the flood situation has remained unchanged, as Brahmaputra, Dharala, Dudkumar and other major rivers in the district have continued flowing above the danger level for the last 11 days.
Water level in the Brahmaputra River at Chilmari point was flowing 90cm above the danger level and 57cm above the danger level at Nunkhaoa point, while Dharala River was flowing 59cm above the danger level at Setu point, according to sources from the local Water Development Board.
Roumari, Rajibpur and Chilmari upazila headquarters were flooded following the collapse of a portion of the town’s protection embankment.
Sufferings of the flood-hit people intensified due to a crisis of pure drinking water and adequate relief materials.
District Administration’s control room sources said 864 villages of 57 unions were flooded in the district, leaving 800,000 people marooned.
Crops on 20,000 hectares were destroyed while 500km road, 40km embankment and 41 bridges and culverts were damaged in the district.
Over 9,734 tube wells went out of order and were submerged by floodwater, sources said.
The District Administration sources said over 64,000 people took shelter in 186 centres in the district.
Dr SM Aminul Islam, Kurigram civil surgeon, said that 85 medical teams have been working in the area to provide pure drinking water by using five water treatment equipments.
The district administration is also distributing water purification tablets and saline among the flood-hit people, he added.
Meanwhile, road communications between Sherpur-Jamalpur road links have been disrupted after the road near Porer Dokan and Shimultali areas were submerged by flash floods.
At least 172 villages under 35 unions of the district have been inundated, leaving more than 63,000 people stranded.
Academic activities in at least 52 educational institutions have remained suspended for over a week, said district relief and rehabilitation officer Abdur Rouf.
The water level of the river Padma at Sureshwar point of Shariatpur district is flowing just 5 cm below the danger level.
Meanwhile, Awami League at a meeting has decided to distribute relief materials among the flood-hit areas of the country.
At the meeting, the ruling party formerd six committees to distribute relief items in the flood affected areas.
The teams will distribute relief materials in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Sirajganj, Gaibandha, Bogura, Sylhet, Moulavibazar, Sunamganj, Chattogram, Bandarban, Feni, Munshiaganj, Chandpur, Manikganj, Tangail and Jamalpur districts.
