Marooned people live in utter misery, fresh areas flooded

Although the swelling waters in a few rivers slowly receded Saturday, many affected people in several districts stayed at their inundated homes or shelters in abject misery while the flooding of fresh areas continued.

Meanwhile, officials and experts noted with concern that the late-monsoon flood may also hit the capital, specifically its most vulnerable eastern part, following the rise of water levels in the surrounding rivers.

A BSS report said the situation in different parts of the country, particularly in the northern region, continued to deteriorate with inundation of fresh areas that further increased woes of the flood-hit people.

The water level of Jamuna (at Sariakandi), Teesta, Dharala, Surma and Kangsha rivers took little downturn Saturday. But the Brahmaputra, Padma, Meghna and the rivers nearby or surrounding Dhaka had been on a rise till evening.

The flood conditions in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj, Sunamganj and Munshiganj further deteriorated as new areas got flooded.

Jamuna's water level receded slightly and flew over 91 cms over the danger level at Sariakandi point under Bogra district on Saturday noon.

The swirling floodwater has washed away 500 metres of the flood-control embankment in Sariakandi till Saturday evening, said officials at Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) in Bogra.

A big part of the dam was devoured by the turbulent Jamuna early Friday, inundating 100 villages under 11 unions out of 12 of Sariakandi Upazila all on a sudden when people were asleep.

Acting UNO of Sariakandi Upazila Prottay Hasan said the situation further deteriorated as 7 new villages and all the unions were affected by the floods.

A total 47,000 families and 0.188 million people in the Upazila have been hit by the sudden flood onslaught.

He said 1.5 tonnes of chira, 0.75 tonnes of gur and 40 tonnes of rice had been distributed among flood-affected people.

"We will distribute 11.15 tonnes of biscuits from tomorrow (Sunday) under World Food Programme (WFP) recipe," he said, as the UN agency has gone on relief mission.

According to the BWDB, the Jamuna waters flooded another 40 villages of two Upazilas--- Dhunat and Sonatola.

Nearly 0.3 million people have been water-jailed while over 10,500 hectares of Aman and vegetable croplands inundated in the three Upazilas of Bogra district alone, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and BWDB.

Sariakandi Upazila Chairman Masudur Rahman (Hiru Mondal) told the FE over cell phone that the administration started distributing food.

"But, it is not sufficient for the 60000-70000 people in Char areas," he said.

The chairman said that at least six unions should be declared 'disaster-hit areas' immediately to avert a massive calamity.

Flood situation in Gaibandha worsened as a flood-control embankment in the eastern part of the district was partly damaged which cut off the communications between Gaibanda town and Gidari area.

The water level of Ghaghot river fell slightly Saturday but was flowing over the danger level by 62 cms, BWDB Gaibandha officials said.

A total of 3800 hectares of croplands have been inundated in Gaibandha till Saturday, according to DAE officials.

The flood conditions further worsened in the northern frontier district of Kurigram as nearly 32,500 hectares of land went under water, which was 31,000 hectares two days back, DAE officials said.

Water level of Brahmaputra at Nunkhaoa point receded slightly but the same river at Chilmari point and Dharala river at Kurigram Sadar flew over danger level on the day, BWDB data showed.

Floods also inundated new areas of Kazipur Upazila in Sirajganj, Islmapur in Jamalpur, Lauhajang in Munshiganj districts, BWDB officials said.

However, officials have apprehended that a flood might hit the capital as the Jamuna has been continuing to swell, flowing 20-99 centimetres (cm) over its red mark at different points.

Waters in nearby  and surrounding rivers like Kaliganga, Buri Dhaleswary, Dhaleswari, Bangshi, Turag, Balu, Tongi Khal and Shitalakhya have been swelling alarmingly.    

The Shitalakhya in Narayanganj, the Dhaleswari in Tangail and Kaliganga in Manikganj have started to flow over the DM.

The Balu at Demra, Turag at Mirpur, Dhaleswary at Rekabi Bazar of Narayanganj (adjacent to Dhaka) and Tongi Khal at Tongi "are flowing very close to the DMs and are likely to jump in a few days, if Jamuna continues to rise", officials said.

The latest observation on  Saturday evening by the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) under BWDB showed Sitalakhya at Narayanganj flowing above DM by 20 cm, the highest-ever mark since the 2007 deluge.

The Turag river at Mirpur was flowing just 9 cms under the DM. It was 60-70 cms seven days back.

The Balu river at Demra, Dhaka, point was flowing nearly 35 cm under the DM, showing an upturn.

Tongi Khal at Tongi was flowing just under 40 cm DM.

Chief of the FFWC Md Amirul Hossain told the FE: "Our forecast is showing that the Brahmaputra-Jamuna may fall briefly, but could rise if rain and water flow from the border areas start afresh."

Hossain said lack of a flood protection embankment in the eastern part of Dhaka has made half the city vulnerable to floods.

In the 1998 flood, almost all of unprotected Dhaka East was flooded by overflow from the Balu River, he informed the FE.

Amirul said the risk of flooding in the capital will remain until September.

Experts said if a flood hit the city now, the situation would be worse than 'the 1998 deluge' as most of the water bodies that help store floodwater have been filled up during the last fourteen years.

A recent study by the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) showed that about 52 per cent of the wetlands and 33 per cent of the water bodies ---rivers, lakes-around Dhaka have been lost to urbanization between 1960 and 2008.