A family remaining marooned without any relief materials for the last 10 days in the Balasy Road area of Gaibandha as is seen in the photo taken on Monday — Focus Bangla Flood situation in the country's northern and north-eastern regions is likely to deteriorate further from today (Tuesday) amid swelling of water in Teesta, Dharala, Kushiara and Surama rivers, according to official data.
Total death toll in the ongoing flood reached at 78 in 20 districts on Monday, as 14 people died by drowning in 24 hours from Sunday morning to Monday morning.
It is the highest casualty in a single day during the last two weeks, according to the Health Emergency Operation Center and Control Room (HEOCCR) under the Directorate General of Health.
Water in some major rivers, meanwhile, continued to recede to some extent on Monday. But condition of the flood-affected people changed a little amid water-logging as well as due to scarcity of food for both human and animal in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogura, Sirajganj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Netrakona, Sunamganj and Sylhet districts.
Moderate to heavy spells of rain might occur today (Tuesday) in the country's northern regions and in their adjacent Indian states like Assam, West Bengal and Meghalaya, which might further cause heavy onrush of water.
However, water level in the adjacent rivers of the capital continued to surge on Monday, triggering further flooding in many parts of Dhaka district, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).
It said Brahmaputra River might remain steady in the next 24 hours starting from Monday evening.
The water level of Ganges-Padma river might continue falling, while that of Surma-Kushiara might rise in 24 hours.
Teesta River at Dalia point and Dharala River at Kurigram point might rise abruptly and exceed danger level.
Eleven rivers at 20 points in 15 districts were flowing 5.0 cm to 100 cm over the danger mark on Monday evening.
The FFWC, however, said flood situation in Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra, Tangail, Sirajganj, Manikganj, Rajbari, Faridpur and Munshiganj districts might improve in the next 24 hours (in terms of water receding).
Balu River at Demra in Dhaka, Kaliganga at Keraniganj and Manikganj, Shitalakkhya River at Kapasia in Gazipur and Narayanganj points were increasing gradually and flowing just 25-30 cm below the danger mark.
An official at the FFWC said if water flow continues to rise, rivers like Turag, Buriganga and Dhaleshwari might swell further, causing severe flooding into the capital.
Meanwhile, seven people died in Jamalpur, three in Netrakona, two in Gaibandha, and one each in Bogura and Faridpur in a day by drowning, data showed.
A total of 78 people have died so far in the ongoing flood, of whom eight people were killed by snakebite and seventy by drowning, according to the HEOCCR update on Monday evening.
Another seven people were killed by lightning in last two weeks. A total of 3,369 people were suffering from diarrhea, of whom 550 were affected just in a day, it added.
Our Gaibandha correspondent adds: Although the water of Brahmaputra and Ghaghat rivers continued to recede in Gaibandha, they were still flowing over the danger line.
As a result, the overall flood situation in the district remained unchanged, and the number of flood-affected people increased to about 0.485 million.
Scarcity of food and drinking water, both for humans and animals, was raising their vulnerability further.
Besides, relief assistance by the government and private initiative was inadequate.
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