The frequent spells of rain which began on Sunday night across the country, especially the northern and northeastern districts, have accelerated the flood crisis and are causing massive damage to crops.
The flood situation is expected to deteriorate over the next two days while the low-lying areas of the capital might get flooded gradually, said the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre yesterday.
“In the next 48 hours, the overall flood situation in the north, central and northeastern parts of the country may deteriorate,” said Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, the on-duty forecasting officer at the centre.
He added that the low-lying areas of Dhaka as well as Narayanganj, Dohar and Munshiganj might be flooded in the next three or four days as water comes down from the Brahmaputra through the Padma.
In a bulletin yesterday, the flood warning centre said the Brahmaputra-Jamuna were seeing a rising trend which is likely to continue for the next 72 hours. At the same time, the water level of the Ganges is likely to fall further, while the Padma water may remain steady over the next 48 hours.
In Meghna basin, the northeastern rivers are experiencing a rising trend that might continue for the next 72 hours, while the rivers around Dhaka city are also seeing rising trend which may continue for the next 72 hours.
Damage to crops
The heavy rainfall, meanwhile, continues to submerge more and more crop fields in the flood-affected zones.
On Monday, Department of Agriculture Extension said around 200,000 hectares of Aman paddy have been submerged. Yesterday, it said further areas were going under water with increasing water levels.
In a bulletin yesterday, Bangladesh Meteorological Department said that under the influence of the monsoon, heavy rainfall is likely to occur at places over Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions during the next 24 hours.
At the same time, the Indian Meteorological Department continued its heavy rainfall warning in Assam and Meghalaya states.
Bangladesh Water Development Board yesterday measured that 60 out of its 85 measuring stations in different rivers showed rising trends of water flow.
Of them, 26 stations in rivers Dharla, Teesta, Padma, Jamuna, Atrai, Dhaleshawri, Surma, Kushiyara and Kansha flowed above danger level – which were more than the previous day.
In addition, the met office measured more than 100mm rainfall in six stations in the flood-affected zones. Of them, Sylhet had 209mm of rain, Sunamganj 135mm, Cox’s Bazar 218mm, Narayonhat 172mm, Kanaighat 149mm and Chittagong district 127mm of rainfall.
Port city woes
Heavy showers inundated the low-lying areas in Chittagong city yesterday with knee to waist-high water.
Motor vehicles were scarce on the port city streets, while commuters had to choose between paying extra for rickshaw rides or to wade through the murky waters.
According to Chittagong Met Office in Patenga Office, around 149.1mm rainfall was recorded in the city during the 24 hours since 3pm Monday.
Atiqur Rahman, meteorologist at Patenga Met Office, told our Chittagong correspondent that light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occurr at the most places in Chittagong over the next two or three days.
Meanwhile, Chittagong City Corporation sources said landslides and wall-collapse occurred at Tigerpass and Lalkhan Bazar areas, but no one was injured.
