Rain worsens flooding

Heavy rain in Bangladesh and India over the last three days has worsened the flood situation in Bangladesh with thousands marooned in the north and northeast.

Many houses and cropland have gone under water and communication has also been snapped in some parts.

Several rivers were flowing above the danger level yesterday. With rain likely in next three days, the situation may worsen. According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the situation may improve this week.

Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, sub-divisional engineer of FFWC, Water Development Board, yesterday said Sylhet region would witness heavy rain in the next two days, while there might be moderate rain in northern parts of the country.

“The trend is expected to calm down by the middle of the week,” he added.

In Gaibandha, communications between 20 villages and Sunderganj upazila headquarters got snapped Friday night with the collapse of Ramdakua Bridge across the tributary of the Teesta due to the onrush of water from upstream.

Surging water washed away more than 40 feet of the approach road on the eastern bank that caused the sudden collapse of the bridge. Locals said the authorities concerned did not repair the bridge last year despite their repeated appeals.

Students of the villages could not go to their respective education institutions in the last three days, said Saidur Rahman, a local.

About 500 bighas of arable land, 10 banana plantations, three bamboo clusters and 60 homesteads of 12 villages in Lalmonirhat sadar, Aditmari and Hatibandha upazilas were washed away.

Hundreds of villagers in the district have been suffering .

In Kurigram, flood situation is likely to worsen along all the 16 rivers in the district, including the Brahmaputra, Dharla, Teesta and Dudhkumar. Floodwater has inundated the shoal and lowland areas.

Water was flowing 17 centimetres under the danger level at Bridge point of the Dharla and 17cm under at Chilmari point of the Brahmaputra yesterday, said officials at the WDB.

In Rangpur, at least 20 houses and more than 100 acres of cropland in Gangachhara upazila have been washed away by the Teesta in the last three days.

The homeless families said they did not get any help from the government or any NGOs.

Water level in the Jamuna river was flowing around 9cm above the danger level at Shariakandi and Dhunat points in Bogra. Fifteen villages in the areas were flooded due to collapse of a flood control embankment Friday afternoon.

Executive Engineer of WDB Ruhul Amin said they had tried their best but could not fully repair the embankment before its collapse due to abnormal weather.

Flash flood has hit several parts of Sylhet Division due to heavy rainfall and onrush of water from the Indian hills that led to marooning of several thousand people.

Water was flowing above the danger level in the Surma and the Kushiara rivers yesterday, while road communications between Guainghat upazila and other upazilas in Sylhet have snapped as roads and bridges of the Guainghat-Sylhet highway got submerged.

The dykes at Nayeakhel, Bhittikhel, Thubang, Baladara and Shurkhel have already collapsed.

Abdul Motin, deputy divisional engineer of WDB, Sylhet, said floodwater had inundated around 30 villages in the region.

Low-lying areas in Sunamganj sadar and Tahirpur upazila have been flooded, leaving 500 families marooned. Major parts of Biswambharpur, Doarabazar and Jamalganj upazilas in the district were submerged.

Around 35 villages in Sunamganj had been flooded, said Abdul Motin.

Train service on Mymensingh-Jamalpur route was disrupted for three hours yesterday as railway lines went under water in Mymensingh after the town experienced the highest rainfall in recent years yesterday.

Around 15 schools in the town suspended ongoing examinations as classrooms were flooded.

Around 84mm rain was recorded in Mymensingh in three hours until noon yesterday, according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

Intercity Teesta Express left for Jamalpur around 1:20pm after a three-hour halt at Mymensingh Railway Station, said Station Master Abu Taher.

Rainwater also entered the Kewatkhali power sales and distribution office in the area. As a result, power service was disrupted for several hours, said Jahangir Alam Jewel, an executive engineer.

Our correspondents from the districts have contributed to this report.