The flood situation is improving in Bandarban district, but the weather remains bad enough to cause hindrance in relief efforts in the remote flood-affected areas.
Sources at Bandarban District Council said communication with the remote parts of the district has been severely damaged and many places are inaccessible.
Parts of the Thanchi and Ruma roads have collapsed due to flood while communication through water routes remains suspended for the same reason. Road communication with Rowanchhari has also collapsed.
A team of Bangladesh Army attempted to take two tonnes of rice on a helicopter to Thanchi’s Tindu and Remakri areas yesterday morning, but the weather in the area was still too rough and it returned to the base. The aircraft will start for Thanchi again once the weather gets better, sources said.
But road communication to Naikkhangchhari and some other upazilas resumed after floodwater started to recede. Tourists who were stranded in the district were able to start for Dhaka as the capital-bound bus service resumed yesterday morning,
In Bandarban municipality area, the district council distributed 60 tonnes of rice among the flood-affected people of seven upazilas.
Relief efforts started in Chittagong and Comilla districts as well.
In Chittagong’s Satkania uapzila, local government officials said the alloted relief items were not enough.
Satkania upazila parishad Vice-Chairman Mohammad Ibrahim Chowdhury said his upazila had received 21 tonnes of rice and Tk50,000, whereas the administration had asked for 150 tonnes of rice and Tk50 lakh.
“Around 400,000 people are marooned in Satkania due to flood. The relief we received is not enough,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
In Comilla, Chouddagram upazila administration distributed 75 tonnes of rice and dry food worth Tk250,000 among the flood affected people of around 50 villages.
“We have started visiting the flood-affected areas and have already dispatched around 200 tonnes of rice and Tk500,000 for the residents of Chouddagram, Laksam, Nangolkot and Manoharganj upazilas,” said AKM Mamunur Rashid, deputy director of Comilla local government.
Flood still bad in other districts
While the situation in Bandarban may have started to improve, it is still bad in other south-eastern districts.
In Noakhali, heavy rainfall damaged at least 400 hectares of Aman padd seedbeds in nine upazilas. Almost th entire district went under water after it started to rain on Thursday, which continued when this report was filed yesterday evening.
Thousands of family were displaced from their homes. “Our crops are destroyed. Our cattle and fish farms have been washed away. We will starve if the water does not recede soon,” said Md Fazlu Miah and Md Ibrahim in Subarnachar upazila.
In Chittagong, roads in both in and outside of the port city have been heavily damaged due to the incessant rain and the resulting flood.
In the city, around 250 kilometres of the total 800 kilometres of road is in a dilapidated state due to the rain for the past few weeks, sources at Chittagong City Corporation told the Dhaka Tribune.
Outside the city, road communication between Chittagong and Dhaka and Rangamati is normal, but several roads in the internal network, as well as Keranirhat-Bandarban road, Satkania-Banshkhali road and Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf highway are under knee-deep water.
Rain has stopped in the city, but continues in Satkania and Fatikchhari upazilas. The terrible weather and road condition has caused several fatal road accidents.
In Comilla, more than 500,000 people are marooned in more than 100 villages. Crops and other farms are damaged, and in some places, the power connection has been disrupted.