Northeastern dists reel under flood menace
The flood situation in the north-eastern districts has worsened due to heavy rains and an onrush of upstream rivers, affecting thousands of people.
Sources said the flood-affected people, mainly children and the elderly, are suffering from various ailments including high fever, skin diseases and diarrhoea due to the lack of fresh drinking water.
Meanwhile, the Jamuna and Teesta rivers are flowing over the danger level at various points. The water level of the Surma-Kushiara too has increased.
The Jamuna at the Bahadurabad Ghat point area in Jamalpur district is flowing over the danger level. At least 20 villages of six unions have been flooded.
Tens of thousands of people in three unions of Bhuapur upazila and one union of Gopalpur upazila in Tangail district have been marooned due to flood waters.
Cattle in Sirajganj district are not getting sufficient food as many areas have been flooded.
With the rise of the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Jamuna, Korotoa and Ghaghot, many new areas in Sundarganj, Sadar, Phulchhari and Saghata upazilas have also gone under water, affecting standing crops and roads in these areas. Many educational institutions have been closed as water has entered the buildings.
Several hundred villages in Nilphamari district has been inundated at Dalia point, where the river was flowing 32 cm above the danger level.
On the other hand, erosion has affected hundreds of acres
of jute farms on the banks the Teesta in Kurigram. The water level of the Teesta was recorded at 52.72 cm (32 cm above danger level) at Dowani point in Lalmonirhat district yesterday morning.
Around 30,000 villagers of five upazilas in the district have been marooned by a sudden onrush of flood waters in the Teesta, Dhorla, Buri Teesta and Saniajan river basin areas in the past 36 hours.
Teesta barrage irrigation project sources said heavy rains and the onrush of water from across the Indian border has led to flash floods in the area for the third time.
The sources said the Indian authorities of Gojoldoba barrage have opened all its gates and the water has entered Bangladesh, causing flash floods in some areas of Hatibandha, Kaligonj, Aditmari, Patgram and Lalmonirhat Sadar upazilas of the district.
In the face of extreme pressure of water in the barrage areas, Teesta barrage authorities have also opened all the gates. This has affected several villages in the low- lying areas of the five upazilas.
The affected villages are Saniajan, Singimari, Sindurna, Patikapara, Dawyabari and Goddimari union in Hatibandha upazila; Gobordhon, Dhakhin Balapara and Kutirpar in Aditmari upazila; Jamirbari, Votmari, Boiraty, and Shoilmari in Kaligonj upazila, Dhohogram of Patgram and Khulaghat, Mogalhat Rajpur, Khuniagach of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila. The the water level of the Teesta was continuously rising since Sunday, the sources said.
Idris Ali, chairman of Khulaghat union parishad, said erosion by the Dharla and the Rotnai was creating havoc at Shiberkuti point. Water Development Board (WDB) authorities at Lalmonirhat were dumping sand sacks to protect the area from erosion, he added. The chaiarman of Hatibandhas Sindurna union, Nurul Amin, said around 12,000 villagers were marooned by flood waters.
Soyed Enamul Kabir, the UNO of Hatibandha upazila, said around 9,275 families in six unions were affected by flood waters.
Mostafijur Rahaman, an executive engineer of the Teesta Barrage project, said that the onrush water from upstream has caused sudden flash floods in low-lying areas of the district.
The Teesta, Dharla, Saniajan ,Rotnai and other rivers are in spate due to upstream water, he added. It cannot be measured how much water will come from the upstream at this moment, he noted. Houses and agricultural lands on the banks of the Jamuna are being gobbled up by the erosion of the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna.
The Water Development Board claimed that it is working to resist erosion. However, the houses of many people at Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogra and Sirajganj have already gone under the rivers.
Though the project work at several areas of Sariakandi upazila of Bogra has been completed, river erosion has not stopped.
At least 200 educational institutions in Sylhet have been closed as water has entered into their premises. It has become difficult to run schools in many areas and the authorities are thinking to delay the half-yearly examinations. Many students are going to schools on banana rafts or small boats, but it is very difficult for them to continue to go to schools amid flood water.
