Many char homesteads flooded with Teesta rising

Staff Reporter :
Due to heavy rain fall and slopes of the upstream hills suddenly raised the water level in the river Teesta. As a result, the authorities of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) on Saturday opened 44 gates at Dalia Point of Teesta Barrage.

Meanwhile, the waters of the rivers Brahmaputra-Jamuna and The Ganges-Padma are in rising trend, which may continue in next 72 hours.
As a result, the low-lying areas are likely to be flooded because of waters.
Meanwhile, over 5,000 more people have been affected in the last 24 hours by the ravaging floods in India’s Assam taking the total affected population to over 34,000 across seven districts in the state, according to the daily bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).
The ASDMA bulletin said the total affected population includes over 3,000 children. Lakhimpur district is the worst affected so far as the first wave of the deluge has affected over 23,000 population in the district, reports times of India.

Md. Arifuzzaman Bhuyan, Executive Engineer of Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) under the BWDB, said, “Due to heavy rainfall in the North-Eastern region and adjoining upstream, all major rivers of this region are rising rapidly.”
According to the weather forecasting agencies, there is a chance of heavy to very-heavy rainfall in the North-Eastern region and adjoining upstream region of the country in the next 48-hours, he said.
“As a result, the major rivers of this region Surma,

Kushiyara, Manu, Khowai, Sarigowain, Jhalukhali, Bhugai-Kangsha, Someswari and Jadukata may rise rapidly and create a short-term flood situation in the low-lying areas of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj and Moulvi Bazar district at this time,” he added.

According to FFWC report, due to heavy rainfall forecast in the Teesta-Dharla basin and adjoining upstream region in the next 24 hours, these rivers may rise rapidly at times.
The Teesta river at Dalia and the Dudhkumar river at Pateswari point may flow close to the respective danger level in next 24 hours, the FFWC added.
“Water of the river Teesta was flowing 22cm below the danger level on Saturday noon. River was rising suddenly due to heavy rain fall in the upstream and we have opened 44 gates of the Teesta Barrage to control flood water,” Executive Engineer of BWDB Dalia point Asafuddoula said.

He also said that the water in the river will fluctuate during the rainy season. “If the water rises, the lower-lying areas of Teesta river may be flooded and we are always prepared to deal with floods,” he added.
Meanwhile, due to the sudden rise in Teesta water, the low-lying areas along the river of Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat and many homesteads in Char, are flooded, the local people said.
Apart from this, the farmers are afraid of crop loss due to the inundation of the crops. As a result of rising water, many people are also in trouble with their cattle too.