The water level of the Padma River has been rapidly rising in recent days, causing concerns that a flood was just waiting to happen in the river's neighbouring areas.
However, flood warning authorities assured that even if waters continue to rise and cause an imminent flooding near the Padma, there would not be widespread damage across the country as two other major river systems were currently seeing falling water levels.
The Padma's recent change in water level is apparently because of heavy rainfall in the upper catchment areas of the Ganges across the border in India, contrary to media reports and rumours suggesting that Padma water was rising because gates had been opened at the Farakka Barrage.
According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), this latest water level rise was natural and not unusual as heavy rainfall in the upper catchment of the Ganges was causing water to flow downstream.
“The rate of water level rising in Padma River is not abnormal in the month of August,” said Md Sazzad Hossain, the on-duty forecasting officer at the FFWC.
August is considered as mid-monsoon and heavy to very heavy rainfall is a normal trend during this time across the whole catchment of the river from its origin at northern India to Bangladesh.
In the coming days, the Indian Meteorological Department forecasts that: “Uttarakhand state of India, from where the river originated, might experience widespread rainfall in next five days”.
As a result, the water level in the lower catchment areas in Bangladesh might also experience an increase in the next few days, FFWC official Sazzad said.
In its flood bulletin yesterday, the flood forecast centre warned: “The Ganges River may continue to rise for the next 72 hours. Ganges at Pankha, Rajshahi and Hardinge Bridge points are flowing 17cm, 22cm and 21cm respectively below their danger level and the river Mohanonda at Chapainawabganj point is flowing 23cm below its danger level.”
But Sazzad Hossain said the danger level near Hardinge Bridge point might be crossed if the trend continued for the next three days.
However, he rejected any possibility of a devastating flood in Bangladesh in the coming days, saying that even though Ganges water level was on the rise, Brahmaputra and Surma-Kushiyara Rivers were in a falling trend.
According to yesterday's FFWC bulletin, water level in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna Rivers may continue to fall for the next 72 hours and Surma-Kushiyara rivers may continue to fall for the next 24 hours.
Bangladesh usually experiences major floods when three major river systems – Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna – simultaneously experience a rising trend.'No links to Farakka Barrage'There has been speculation – both on Bangladeshi media and social networks – that Padma water level was experiencing a sharp rise because Indian authorities had opened all the gates of Farrakka Barrage located in West Bengal.
But there was no strength behind such rumours as the Farakka gates were supposed to stay open during monsoon every year, said Prof Ataur Rahman, chairman of the department of water resources management at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
“Farakka Barrage was built to divert water during lean period, not in monsoon. So, all the gates are supposed to be open during monsoon,” the Buet professor told the Dhaka Tribune.
In addition, the feeder canal of the barrage had the capacity of only 40,000 cusec, while the river carried around one million cusec of water during monsoon. So, the Indian authorities do not have any reason to keep the gates closed during this time of the year, the hydrology expert added.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
