Low in Bay off Bengal, Odisha coasts

A low formed in the North-West Bay of Bengal, off the West Bengal and Odisha coasts, yesterday (Friday). Weathermen at the Dhaka Met Office were watching it closely—whether it would intensify further into a depression to boost the monsoon and trigger more rain. The Met Office's long-range forecast for August earlier had said that one or two low pressures would form in the Bay of Bengal and cause more rain.

There is less rainfall in the country at present as the monsoon system has weakened in the North Bay and is less active over Bangladesh. This would help provide a breather to the thousands of flood-affected people to reassemble their devastated lives. The slowing down of rain has been going on for the past couple of days, helping to improve the situation, particularly in the north-eastern districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj. These two districts were ravaged by the rain-fed Surma and Kushiyara for the second spell after the heavy rain in mid-July that battered the country again in early August.

The Met Office had forecast that August would have a little more rain than average precipitations, after the 3.7 per cent more than normal showers in June and another 7.3 per cent extra in July, swelling the Brahmaputra as well as the Ganges and Teesta rivers upstream. If these rivers burst their banks together, it spells danger for a densely populated Bangladesh, as had happened in 1987,1988 and 1998.

Sazzad Hossain, a flood watcher at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), told The Independent on Thursday that it has not happened thus far. But the impact of the Brahmaputra carrying flood waters down from the north-eastern Indian state of Assam through the Jamuna had been devastating as it rose higher and higher surpassing the levels of the 1988 floods last week in Bahadurabad in Jamalpur district, climbing 134cm above its danger level.

But the slowing down of rain for the past few days has also slowed down the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, taming its fury and slowly pushing down the river below the danger level, reports said yesterday.

"If we have more heavy rain both in the upstream and locally, the situation may turn worse. We should be ready for any eventuality," Dr Ainun Nishat, a river expert and environmentalist, told the media yesterday.

A less active monsoon may contribute further to help ease the situation, Sazzad Hossain said.

Till 6am yesterday, Dhaka city recorded only one mm of rainfall, similar to Chittagong. Bogra, most ravaged by the Jamuna, recorded nothing. Only Srimangal recorded a significant rainfall of 75mm. The flood-devastated Dinajpur had only two mm of showers.

"It all depends on how the low behaves. We are watching it seriously. If it matures and turns its movement to our coast, we may have the return of rain, or heave a sigh of relief if it moves away towards Odisha or West Bengal, taking the rain with it," senior meteorologist Bazlur Rashid told The Independent yesterday.

 

Low in Bay off Bengal, Odisha coasts

A low formed in the North-West Bay of Bengal, off the West Bengal and Odisha coasts, yesterday (Friday). Weathermen at the Dhaka Met Office were watching it closelywhether it would intensify further into a depression to boost the monsoon and trigger more rain. The Met Offices long-range forecast for August earlier had said that one or two low pressures would form in the Bay of Bengal and cause more rain. There is less rainfall in the country at present as the monsoon system has weakened in the North Bay and is less active over Bangladesh. This would help provide a breather to the thousands of flood-affected people to reassemble their devastated lives. The slowing down of rain has been going on for the past couple of days, helping to improve the situation, particularly in the north-eastern districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj. These two districts were ravaged by the rain-fed Surma and Kushiyara for the second spell after the heavy rain in mid-July that battered the country again in early August. The Met Office had forecast that August would have a little more rain than average precipitations, after the 3.7 per cent more than normal showers in June and another 7.3 per cent extra in July, swelling the Brahmaputra as well as the Ganges and Teesta rivers upstream. If these rivers burst their banks together, it spells danger for a densely populated Bangladesh, as had happened in 1987,1988 and 1998. Sazzad Hossain, a flood watcher at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), told The Independent on Thursday that it has not happened thus far. But the impact of the Brahmaputra carrying flood waters down from the north-eastern Indian state of Assam through the Jamuna had been devastating as it rose higher and higher surpassing the levels of the 1988 floods last week in Bahadurabad in Jamalpur district, climbing 134cm above its danger level. But the slowing down of rain for the past few days has also slowed down the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, taming its fury and slowly pushing down the river below the danger level, reports said yesterday. If we have more heavy rain both in the upstream and locally, the situation may turn worse. We should be ready for any eventuality, Dr Ainun Nishat, a river expert and environmentalist, told the media yesterday. A less active monsoon may contribute further to help ease the situation, Sazzad Hossain said. Till 6am yesterday, Dhaka city recorded only one mm of rainfall, similar to Chittagong. Bogra, most ravaged by the Jamuna, recorded nothing. Only Srimangal recorded a significant rainfall of 75mm. The flood-devastated Dinajpur had only two mm of showers. It all depends on how the low behaves. We are watching it seriously. If it matures and turns its movement to our coast, we may have the return of rain, or heave a sigh of relief if it moves away towards Odisha or West Bengal, taking the rain with it, senior meteorologist Bazlur Rashid told The Independent yesterday.