Being confined to a raised wooden platform, this woman is staring at floodwater that has submerged the entire area at Golla in Phulchari upazila of Gaibandha district. With the water level flowing above the danger level, many new areas are getting inundated every day, putting people at risk of food insecurity and disease. The photo was taken on Friday — Focus Bangla The flood situation worsened further during the last 24 hours ending at 9:00 am on Friday, marooning over 150,000 people so far in seven northern districts in the Brahmaputra basin, reports BSS from Rangpur.
Officials of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said major rivers were flowing above the danger levels (DL) at 12 points of Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamal-pur, Bogra and Sirajganj districts on the day.
Water levels of the Dudhkumar, Dharla and Teesta sharply rose during the period, inundating fresh low-lying areas in Rangpur, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha, while the Brahmaputra remained steady and the Jamuna rose, worsening the flood situation.
The Teesta marked a sharp rise by 80 cm at Dalia point in Nilphamari, and was flowing there above the DL by 35 cm at 9:00 am.
As a result, floodwater inundated fresh low-lying areas of Dimla upazila in Nilphamari, Hatibandha, Kaliganj, Patgram and Aditmari upazilas in Lalmonirhat, and Gangachara upazila in Rangpur during the period.
The Dudhkumar was flowing 8.0 cm above the DL at Pateshwari, while the Brahmaputra above the DL by 10 cm at Hatia and 50 cm at Chilmari and the Dharla by 28cm at Kurigram points in Kurigram, and the Ghagot by 20cm above the DL at Gaibandha points at 9:00 am.
The Jamuna was flowing above the DL by 52 cm at Fulchhari and 34 cm at Shaghata in Gaibandha, 63 cm at Bahadurabad in Jamalpur, 69 cm at Sariakandi in Bogura, 66 cm at Kazipur, and 67 cm at Sirajganj points in Sirajganj districts on the day.
According to a bulletin of the BWDB Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the recorded rainfalls during the last 24 hours were 41 mm at Gangtok and 35 mm at Tezpur points of the north-western Indian states.
The Brahmaputra was in a steady state, while the Jamuna was in a rising trend, which might continue in the next 24 hours.
"The flood situation in the low-lying areas of Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogura and Sirajganj districts in the Brahmaputra basin may deteriorate and remain steady alongside the Teesta in the next 24 hours," the bulletin added.
"The flood control embankments and structures in the BWDB Rangpur zone are safe," said Jyoti Prosad Ghosh, chief engineer of the BWDB Rangpur zone, adding that riverbank protection works were continuing at several vulnerable points in the zone.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said floodwater submerged standing crops on 26,421 hectares of land in low-lying areas of Rangpur agriculture region alone.
The submerged standing crops include Aman rice on 26,001 hectares of land, Aman seedbeds on 115 hectares, and vegetables on 305 hectares of land in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha and Lalmonirhat districts.
Additional Divisional Commissioner (General) of Rangpur Md Zakir Hossain said district administrations intensified distribution of relief goods among affected people in the floods-hit areas of Rangpur division during this first phase of the deluge.
The government so far allocated Taka 3,50,000 and 20 tonnes of rice for Rangpur, 280 tonnes of rice and Taka 12,00,000 for Kurigram, and 80 tonnes of rice and Taka 2,00,000 for Gaibandha, and those were being distributed among the flood-hit people in those districts.
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