The flood situation in the north of the country has worsened significantly as some 150 villages in Bogra have submerged, marooning around 2 lakh people, while 100 more villages in Kurigram have gone under water.
Water level in the rivers in Jamalpur and Gaibandha also continued to rise above danger level yesterday.
The fresh submerging in Bogra and Kurigram took place as flood embankments collapsed.
Our Bogra correspondent reports: Flood hit around 150 villages at Sariakandi and Dhunat upazilas after around 400 metres of the flood control embankment gave in to the pressure of the increasing water in the Jamuna River at Sariakandi’s Rouhodor Bazar area on Friday night.
Witnesses said five to seven metres of the embankment had suddenly collapsed around 1am and then within a few minutes a vast stretch of the embankment had disintegrated.
District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Arifuzzaman said around 2 lakh people were surrounded by floodwater in 100 villages of Sariakandi upazila and 30 villages of Dhunat in the district.
A total of 55 tonnes of rice and Tk50 lakh in cash were allocated for the flood victims in the two upazilas. Another 500 tonnes of rice and Tk20 lakh were sought for them, he said.
Water Development Board Executive Engineer AKM Momtaz Uddin said water level in the Jamuna would return to normalcy by today. Unless water fully receded, the collapsed embankment could not be repaired.
In Kurigram, flood situation deteriorated as water in the Dharla and Brahmaputra rivers increased intermittently.
More than 100 villages were inundated anew as the Raniganj flood control embankment gave way to floodwater at Chilmari upazila, taking the total number of flood-affected villages beyond 400 in the district, says our correspondent.
Miseries of the flood-hit people knew no bounds in the district as they were not getting relief compared to their demand.
Communications system has also broken down in the district.
The Dhormopur point of Datbhanga road collapsed at Roumari upazila. Besides, many more dirt roads went under floodwater in the upazila. People were seen moving from one place to another using boats and rafts.
Flood-hit people, along with their livestock, were seen taking shelter on embankments or high land at many places. Many others have been living on boats or bamboo scaffolds for 15 days in a row. There are also remote areas where no relief has yet reached.
The flood-hit people are also suffering from scarcity of dry food and pure drinking water.
Many have been also affected by water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea.
Under government and non-government initiatives, relief materials were being distributed yesterday among the flood victims, but they were too small to meet the demand of all the flood-hit people.
Sources in the district administration said 800 tonnes of rice and Tk11 lakh were so far doled out to the flood-affected people in the district.
Jamalpur
Our correspondent reports that flood condition deteriorated in the district as water rose in the Jamuna, increasing 11cm in the past 24 hours and flowing 71cm above danger level.
Fresh areas were flooded because of the rise of water in the river.
So far, around 2.5 lakh people were affected by flood in seven upazilas of the district.
Severe food crisis cropped up among the people over the past two weeks. The district administration distributed 141 tonnes of rice and the dry food worth Tk11 lakh were distributed in the district.
However, people from remote areas alleged that they had not yet got any relief. Some points on the Melandah-Mahmudpur and Islampur-Guthail roads went under water, disrupting communications.
The Department of Agricultural Extension said so far 20,436 hectares of cropland went under water.
Deputy Commissioner Md Shahabuddin Khan said they had an adequate amount of relief in stock. Yet, more was sought from Dhaka.
Gaibandha
Miseries of around 100,000 people in the district increased as water level continued to rise in the Ghaghot, Brahmaputra and Korotoa rivers.
A crack was spotted yesterday on the Wapda dam near the Komornoi Mia Para of the city, reports our correspondent in the district.
The Water Development Board started repairing the dam after halting vehicular movements on the embankment, said a WDB engineer.
Abdul Baki Sarkar, chairman of Udakhali union parishad under Phulchhari upazila, said Brahmaputra water was spilling over the flood control dam, and people living in that area were passing days amid fear of submersion.
Magistrate Nazmul Huda from the district’s Disaster Management and Relief office said more people were getting affected by flood every day. Over the past couple of days 1,020 more houses were inundated.
