About 17 lakh people have been marooned and houses, croplands, roads and seedbeds have been inundated in 21 flood-affected districts, as the flood situation continues to deteriorate in most areas. The flood affected districts are: Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Sylhet, Bogura, Gaibandha, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Feni, Brahmmanbaria, Sherpur, Tangail, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachori.
Reports of death of 8 people, including four children, in the flood-affected areas came in yesterday. Six of them were from Kurigram and one each in Sherpur and Sirajganj. In Kurigram, six people drowned in Ulipur and Roumari upazilas and the Brahmaputra and Dharla Rivers flowed above the danger level, leaving thousands of people stranded.
Manzil Haque, deputy-assistant director of Kurigram Fire Service and Civil Defense, said five people died after a boat sank at Natun Anantapur in Ulipur. The deceased were identified as Runa Begum, 28, wife of Rezaul Islam; Rupa Moni, 8, daughter of Mohsin Ali; Sumon, 8, Ruku Moni, 8, and Hasibul Islam, 7, son of Aynal Haque.
Besides, Saiful Islam, 25, from Roumari’s Kartimari area drowned after coming in contact with a live wire in the morning. His body was later recovered.
In Sherpur, an elderly woman drowned at Sarikalinagar of Jhenigati upazila while erosion in six rivers intensified. The deceased was identified as Ashia Begum of the area.
In Sirajganj, the flood situation worsened as Jamuna continued to swell due to heavy rains, leaving an estimated 80,000 people stranded in the river islands. A man drowned in the flood. He was identified as Kabir Hossain, 48, of Kazipur upazila.
Major rivers and basins continue to rise due to relentless and heavy monsoon rains, paired with onrush of water from the upstream.
According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the flood situation
may worsen further in Kurigram, Jamalpur, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj and Tangail districts in the next 24 hours.
Sources in the disaster management and relief ministry say standing crops and vegetables on about 12,138 hectares have been damaged, while 2414 hectares of seedbeds and about 300-km of roads have been massively hit by the flood water. Besides, about 46,841 houses have been damaged across the country.
Necessary relief materials are being allocated as per the demand of the flood-affected districts.
“We’re monitoring the flood situation in 20 districts very closely. Moreover, 30–35 districts have been partially hit by the flood,” said Syed Nurul Basir, deputy secretary of the disaster management and relief ministry.
“All the major rivers are rising, except the Surma-Kushiyrara. The Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers may continue to rise in the next 48 hours. Besides, the Atrai river at Baghabari and the Padma river at Goalondo may cross their respective danger levels in the next 24 hours,” Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, executive engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB), told this correspondent.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department and the India Meteorological Department, there is chance of fairly widespread medium-to-heavy rainfall in northern and north-eastern parts of Bangladesh along with adjoining Assam and Meghalaya states of India in the next 24 hours.
