Flood situation worsens in B`putra basin

Ehsanul Haque Jasim :The flood situation has further worsened in Kurigram, Sirajganj, Bogra, Sherpur, Shariatpur, Jamalpur and some other parts of the country. Several lakhs people have been marooned in the flood-affected districts. However, the floodwater started receding in Feni, Khagrachhari and some other parts, but the flood-hit people in those areas are experiencing sufferings for crisis of dry food and pure drinking water. The flash flood severely hit the districts due to torrential rain with onrush of hilly water for several days.The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) forecasts that the flood situation in Kurigram, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Bogra, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Pabna, Faridpur, Shariatpur, Rajbari and Munshiganj districts may deteriorate in the next two to three days. The situation in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Netrokona districts may likely to improve, while the Satkhira district may remain unchanged.Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, Duty Officer of the FFWC on Saturday told The New Nation that they are apprehending of worsening flood situation in the northern districts, as major rivers of the area are on rising trend. The Brahmaputra, the Jamuna, the Ganges, the Padma and the Meghna rivers are on rising trend, which may likely to continue in next 72 hours. The Surma and the Kushiyara rivers may likely to fall in the next 48 hours, he said. The FFWC official informed that the Jamuna was flowing 63 cm above the danger level in Sirajganj, while 71 cm in Sariakandi and the Dharla was following 30 cm above the danger level in Kurigram and the Atrai was following 20 cm above the danger level in Baghbari. Meanwhile, a private TV channel in a report broadcast on Saturday that there is a possibility of recurrence of the massive flood of 1988, as the water levels in the Padma, the Jamuna and the Brahmaputra have gone up. The Brahmaputra and the Jamuna rivers are major sources of water supply in the Ganges delta. A large volume of glacial melt water from the Himalayas, with heavy rainfall, is increasing the possibility of severe flood.There has also been heavy and incessant rainfall in Bihar, Assam, Arunachal and West Bengal states in India over the last few days. The rainfall has been minimal in many areas of Bangladesh.When asked, Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan said that although the flood situation will further worsen in the northern district of the country, there is no possibility of reoccurrence of the 1988 massive flood. He also said that, the flood situation may be improved after two to three days. In Kurigram, incessant rain and high tide have left nearly 50,000 people stranded and inundated 10,000 hectares of Aman paddy and vegetables plantations across the district. The floodwater also inundated more than a hundred villages of all nine upazilas of the district.Two people, including a minor girl, died in the district. Of them, the girl died in the floodwater, while a youth died from snakebite. Four year-old girl Sadia and 24-year old youth Shaheen died in Razarhat upazila on Friday night. Subed Ali, Chairman of Jatrapur Union Parishad of Sadar upazila, said that the floodwater entered houses of many people and continued to increase. Many families left their houses for high areas. At least 30 houses in Jatrapur union were washed away by the onrush of water of the Brahmaputra and 2km of the embankment in Pachgachhia union was threatened by erosion of the Dharala river bank, according to the UP Chairman.Most educational institutions and government and non-government offices have been submerged by rainwater. The affected places include the fire station, food godowns, the food office, DC’s office and the chief judicial magistrate’s court. Erosion on Dharla’s bank has taken a sharp turn and reached close to the flood protection embankment in Pachgachhia union.In Lalmonirhat, the road communications of Burimari upazila with Lalmonirhat and Dhaka have been snapped, as Swarnamoti Bridge on Lalmonirhat-Burimari Road has been collapsed. The vehicular movement on the road has been halted, causing immense sufferings for the people. Meanwhile, about 100 villages have been affected in the flood for last several days. Many houses and croplands also went under floodwater. About 20,000 people in Hatibandha upazila have been marooned. Many people in the flood-hit areas across the district are facing sufferings for crisis of dry food and pure drinking water. But the flood-hit people did not get relief materials from the administration till yesterday. In Sirajganj, at least 50 villages of the low-lying areas in the district went under floodwater, while the floodwater also inundated hundreds of hectares of Aman paddy and vegetable lands. Sirajganj DC Md Billal Hossain said that they are working hardly to face the situation. In Feni, vast areas of Fulgazi and Parashuram upazilas had gone under floodwater due to breach in the flood control dyke of Muhuri, Kohua and Silonia rivers in several parts. The flood situation was improving in the district, but the flood-hit people facing suffering for crisis of dry food and pure drinking water. They want distribution of relief materials from the government.  In Khagrachhari, the flood situation in the district has started improving as the floodwater continued receding after stoppage of the rainfall. At least a thousand families of Marung and Kabakhali unions of Dighinala upazila and Ganjapara, Shantinagar, Sabdamiapara, Khabangpuria, Milanpur, and Islampur of Khagrachhari district town were badly affected by flooding. In Khagrachhari town, the affected families returned home from the nine shelters, but complained of getting no relief materials from the administration. The affected people demanded government assistance, as the flood severely damaged farmlands, ponds, roads, and bridges. DC of Khagrachhari Muhammad Wahiduzzaman said that a list of the affected families was being prepared and relief goods would reach them soon.