After rising suddenly and threatening Sirajganj downstream following heavy rain upstream, the Brahmaputra began stabilising late yesterday (Monday) at Kurigram, where it enters Bangladesh and takes the name of Jamuna, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) said.

Two other rivers in the north-east, the Surma and the Kushiyara, have also started receding, Sazzad Hossain, executive engineer of the FFWC, told The Independent.

The river count report at 3pm taken at Kurigram showed the river, rising for the past few days, becoming stable and flowing 3cm below its danger level (DL).

The Jamuna had been threatening Sirajganj again after an earlier spell of floods following heavy rainfall in July and August and subsequent erosion.

The Surma and Kushiyara, the twins carrying the flows of the Barak river from Manipur state of north-eastern India, which went in spate following heavy rain upstream, also began falling.

The Surma yesterday fell by 1 cm, flowing only 49cm above its DL at Kanaighat in Sylhet. The Kushiyara, too, was sliding, flowing 22cm above its DL at Sheola.

Both the rivers would go down further, with the Surma expected to become steady in the next 24 hours. Similarly, the Kushiyara would become steady despite rising in the next 24 hours.

But the Khowai, at Ballah in Habiganj, was flowing 100cm above its DL, rising ominously by 184cm following a heavy rush of water from the Tripura hills after heavy rain there.