1.0m facing tough times despite improvement of flood situation

Although the flood situation improved in some places, more than 1.0 million people were still passing tough times amid inundation in the southern and south-eastern districts in absence of adequate relief, government officials and people's representatives in the flood-hit areas said.
Fresh areas were flooded in Barguna, Patuakhali and Bhola districts because of the sudden collapse in river dams, making the situation further worsened in the costal districts.
The flood condition improved in some places of Bandarban, Rangamati and Cox's Bazar following a decline in rain but a vast area was still under water in the districts, according to the deputy commissioner (DC) offices concerned.  
Flood-affected people claimed that the relief materials distributed by the government were inadequate.
They also urged for quick and sufficient distribution of food items, drinking water, medicines, and sanitary equipment to protect the people from being affected with various water-borne diseases.     
People in six upazilas of Chittagong, two upazilas each in Feni, Cox's Bazar and Noakhali and one each in Barguna, Khulna, Bhola and Patuakhali remained inundated for last some days.
When contacted over cell phone, vice-chairman of Chandnaish Upazila Parishad in Chittagong district, Shahnaj Begum told the FE that the rain stopped but high-tide of sea was causing inundation.
She said nearly 0.4 million people in the five unions including in her upazila were water-logged for last five days.
She said the government allocated only 100 tonnes of rice and Tk 0.5 million for 0.4 million marooned people in the upazila. "With the distributed relief, one person can get 0.5 kilogram of ice. Is it enough?" she questioned.
Nearly 0.1 million people have been marooned when dams in the Bishkhali and Baleshwar rivers collapsed in early hours on Monday in Patharghata upazila under Barguna district, according to the district unit of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).   
Talking to the FE, Chairman of Kakchira Union Parishad at Patharghata upazila Md Alauddin Paltu said some 125 metres of the dam beside Bishkhlai river adjacent to his union have been washed away earlier on the day. Meanwhile, more than 100 metres of a dam in Boleshwar river were severely damaged and submerged more areas under Patharghata Sadar, Kathaltoli and Kalmegha-Bauthaurani upazilas.
"A number of families, mostly farmers and fishermen, have lost everything they had due to the flood and they need relief immediately," he said.
Chairman of Daganbhuiyan Union Parishad under the Daganbhuiyan Upazila in Feni district Md MA Hossain said six out of the eight unions in his upazila were water-logged for the last five days.
"Though the DC office has started distributing relief, it is not adequate at all. People need food, medicine and fresh drinking water but relief activities are hardly visible," the UP Chairman said.     
However, Director General of Department of Disaster Management (DDM) Reaz Ahmed rejected the allegation of inadequate relief materials to the flood-affected people, saying that the special allocation was made following requirements made by the deputy commissioner (DC) offices concerned.According to the observation of Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river systems are in falling trend which may continue in next 96 hours.
The Surma is in falling trend while the Kushiyara river system is in rising trend. Both the river systems may fall in next 48 hours. The Ganges is in rising trend while the Padma river system is in falling trend. The Ganges is likely to rise while the Padma may remain steady in next 48 hours, the FFWC forecasted.
FFWC Sub-divisional Engineer Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan said water in 26 rivers increased further while 52 is in declining trend and 2 rivers were flowing over the danger mark.   

jubairfe1980@gmail.com, tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com