Persistent rain sees 25 more villages flooded in M'singh

MYMENSINGH, Oct 08 (bdnews24.com): Persistent rain has caused the flooding situation in Mymensingh's Haluaghat, Dhobaura, and Phulpur upazilas to worsen. Another 25 villages have been inundated and some 200,000 people are trapped by the water.
Rain from dawn to 8am on Tuesday caused the water levels of the Kangsa and Netai rivers to rise slightly, according to Md Sanowar Hossain, the Mymensingh district relief and disaster management official.
A total of Tk 700,000 in cash and 63 tonnes of rice have been allocated for the three upazilas, he said. Different political and volunteer organisations are also assisting in relief efforts, he said.
The water may recede if the rain eases.
The primary and secondary schools in the upazilas have been declared shelters for flood victims, Sanowar said.
Several hundred people, including women and children, have taken refuge at these shelters. The shelters have arrangements for dry food and clean water.
The water has entered several houses under the Ashrayan Project under the Aylatoli area of Dhobaura upazila on the banks of the Kangsa River.
Amena Begum, one resident of the housing project said,"Water has surrounded the Ashrayan Project houses for a week. We are suffering greatly alongside our children. On Monday, only one organisation came to us with some food. But the local administration has yet to check up on us."
Another resident, Sahab Uddin, said that water had gotten inside some of the houses on Tuesday morning as the flooding worsened.
He said that, as the houses are located next to the river, they always worry about when their homes will be flooded.
Minti Rani Pal, another Ashrayan Project resident, said, "The flooding has dampened the joy of the puja. We aren't even getting two meals a day, how can we celebrate puja? At least if the government was helping us, my children and I could get by."
Nishat Sharmin, Dhobaura upazila executive officer, said that the water levels had risen on the fifth day of the flooding due to rain in the morning. Several new areas had been flooded, she said. The situation will normalise if there is no rain, she said.
Flood victims are being provided with food and medicine, she said.
ABM Ariful Islam, executive officer of Phulpur Upazila, said that nine unions in the upazila, including Balia, were newly flooded due to several hours of rain in the morning. Sixteen more villages have been flooded, he said.