Ehsanul Haque Jasim :The flood situation in several parts of the country has remained unchanged, but worsened in some other areas. Most of the country’s major rivers were on rising trend on Friday. According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) and the Water Development Board (WDB), the water level registered rise at 37 points and the rivers were flowing above the danger level at 22 points. About 60 lakh people have still remained marooned. They are facing acute crisis of food and pure drinking water, while the day-labourers in the northern districts are now workless. Local people fear outbreak of the waterborne diseases like diarrhoea.Many allege that the government’s attention to the flood-hit people is very poor. Though the local administration has distributed nominal relief materials, it is heedless of the waterborne diseases. Director General of the Department of Disaster Management Md Riaz Ahmed on Friday told The New Nation that they had already allocated 7,225 tonnes of rice and nearly Tk. four crore for the flood-hit people. They have also allocated 40,000 bundle of C.I. sheet for the affected people after end of the flood. Many said that the allocation was nominal considering the loss. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya has urged the country’s philanthropists to come forward to help the flood-hit people. He has also urged the Health Ministry to take step to ensure health service in the flood-hit area. Md Riaz Ahmed said that flooding was now taking place in 24 districts of the country. It will take time to assess the information about losses caused by this round of flooding. He also said that the Health Ministry had been asked to keep medical team ready to face any outbreak of diseases. Besides, the Local Government Ministry had been urged to ensure safe drinking water in the affected area. According to reports, the flood-affected districts include Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Natore, Naogaon Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Netrakona, Shariatpur, Sirajganj, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Bhola and Satkhira. Thousands of hectares of agriculture lands with newly transplanted Ropa Aman and vegetables had been affected by the flood. According to the FFWC and the WDB, the Padma, the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna were on rising trend, which may continue for the next several days. The Ganges was on falling trend, while the rivers of northeastern part of the country were also on rising trend except the Surma and the Kushiyara. The two major rivers, however, were flowing above the danger level at 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, but it would improve in the North-Eastern part of the country. He also said that the rivers around the Dhaka city were on rising trend, which may continue in next several days In Kurigram, the overall flood situation has further worsened due to nonstop rainfall in last two weeks. The flood has affected nearly six lakh people in over six hundred villages of 66 unions under nine upazilas of the district.The incessant rains filled rivers and flooded roads, villages and shelters. People of the affected areas are suffering seriously. Most of the villagers are starving due to want of food, relief goods and drinking water. On the other, the owners of cattle in the flood-affected areas find no grasses to feed their livestock. The authorities allocated 250 metric tonnes of rice and Tk. 645,000 in cash which are not sufficient. Deputy Commissioner of Kurigram Khan Mohammad Nurul Amin said that urgent letter had been sent to the Ministry seeking additional 500 metric tonnes of rice and Tk.10 lakh for affected people.The Brahmaputra, the Dharla and other rivers were flowing above the danger level at several points, while the rivers were also on rising trend. According to the FFWC, the Dharla was flowing 45 cm above the danger level at Kurigram point, while the Brahmaputra was flowing 30 cm above the danger level at Chilmari point. The water level in the Brahmaputra marked rise by 17 cm at the point on Friday. In Lalmonirhat, the river erosion has taken a serious turn in the district. Dwelling houses of at least 22 families went into the riverbed at Dimla upazila, while some other families are in fear of losing their houses in the river. Over 100 families left their houses in fear of losing these in the river. Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Dimla Rezaul Karim said that the Chairmen of union parishads had been asked to prepare the list of river erosion affected families. Thousands of Aman farmers have also been affected by the flood in the district. The farmers are facing uncertainty due to lack of seedlings for replanting in their fields. Aman paddy was cultivated on 83,618 hectares of lands in five upazilas of the district this year. The flood has damaged Aman paddy on about 15,000 bighas of land as the fields remained under the floodwater for 11 to 13 days, said sources of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).Deputy Commissioner of Nilphamari Md Jakir Hossain said that the administration distributed 13 metric tonnes of rice and Tk. 55,000/ in cash 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.In Sirajganj, the flood-hit fresh areas on Friday. Many people took shelter on embankments, educational institutions, high places and the flood shelter centres. The people, who got shelter, are passing their days with miseries. They did not get relief materials. The distressed people are looking for relief materials. The DAE, however, said about 600 hectares of croplands were affected in the flood. According to the FFWC, the Jamuna River was flowing above the danger level at several points. The water level was on rising trend. The water level in the river marked rise by 19 cm at Sirajganj point and the river was flowing 61 cm above the danger level.
