The flood situation in different parts of the country has remained unchanged as people continue to suffer from the scarcity of food, shelter, medicine and fuel. Government aid for the flood victims thus far has been nowhere near sufficient.
Our correspondent form Kurigram reports that the water level in many areas was still rising, though in a few areas the flood water has been drying up slowly.
More than 200,000 people are marooned in 42 unions of the district. Many people are still living on rafts and scaffolds.
These families are miserable because of the acute scarcity of food and potable water. Lack of proper healthcare services and medicines in those areas are making the people’s lives more difficult. There is also a crisis of fodder in the flood affected areas.
The roads and highways in the district went underwater, and now boats and rafts are the only means for traveling from one place to another. More than 200 educational institutions in the district have remained closed because of the flood.
The affected families received ten kilograms of rice yesterday. District Magistrate ABM Azad told to the Dhaka Tribune that thus far, 150 tonnes of rice and Tk200,000 in cash had been allotted by the government for the flood victims in that area. They had applied to the ministry for more 200 tonnes of rice and Tk15 lakhs, he added.
Our Gaibandha correspondent added: The heavy current in the Ghaghot River was threatening the embankment which was protecting the city. A stretch of 100m of the embankment in the Komornoi area was severely damaged. The Water Development Board was trying to repair the dam using bamboo and sandbags.
Seventeen educational institutions were closed down in the Sundarganj area. There is also an acute scarcity of food, potable water, fuel and fodder in the area.
The flood victims said the government’s effort to help them was not sufficient to alleviate their miseries.
According to our Sherpur correspondent, the onrush of water from upstream is steadily raising the water level in the Brahmaputra near the Sherpur Ferry Terminal. Many people lost their houses in the river erosion in Sherpur.
Nearly 50 houses in the Kulurchar Beparipara village under Char Pakkhimari union in Sherpur sadar upazila were demolished by the river erosion.
Meanwhile, the houses on the shoals beside the river were inundated, which forced the inhabitants to move their valuables elsewhere.
The locals complained that neither the government nor the non government organisations had come to their aid so far. Nearly a thousand people would lose their houses unless something was done immediately to prevent the erosion, they added.