New worries for flood victims as water receding in districts

The overall flood situation continued improving in different parts of the country on Tuesday as major rivers receded further.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) in its latest forecast valid for 72 hours said all the major rivers of the country were falling thanks to lower onrush of upstream water and less rain.

However, diseases like diarrhea started spreading in some districts with the recession of flood water.

Eight rivers at ten points of the country were flowing above the danger levels on the day. But water levels fell at 72 other points and rose at 18 points across the country.

Light to heavy rain is likely to occur at most places of Barishal, Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions and at many places of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions.

The prevailing monsoon was active over Bangladesh while moderate to strong over the North Bay, according to the Met Office.

However, no casualty was recorded by the Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room under the Health Directorate during the last 48 hours.

The update on flood on Tuesday said a total of 119 people died in the last four weeks.

However, diarrhea started spreading at places of Jamalpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram and some other districts amid shortage of fresh water, sanitation and food.

A total of 6,798 people were afflicted with diarrhea and of them, 350 fell ill in the last twenty-four hours.

The flood marooned 6.07 million people, left 0.7 million (7 lakh) homeless, caused damage to 0.15 million hectares of cropland in 28 districts in the last four weeks, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

Sources said though rivers were receding, it would take another one or two weeks for villages and towns to fully emerge from floodwater, if the favourable weather condition persists.

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