Govt fears big flood in Aug, issues prep orders

Bangladesh might be plunged into a high magnitude flood in the third week of August and the government has issued necessary preparation orders in this regard.

“Since the country experienced a double rainfall, we have been warned of a high magnitude flood,” Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud told reporters.

Read more: Stay alert as water may rise in the central region

He was briefing this afternoon in Dhaka following today’s session of the three-day annual conference of district administration heads, which began yesterday.

“This will happen in the third week of August. That’s why the water development board has been asked to take necessary preparation in this regard,” he briefed reporters.

Bangladesh has already experienced two bouts of flood – one back in April in the haor regions, and then followed by this month’s ongoing inundation in Sylhet and adjacent areas.

Yesterday, in the deputy commissioners’ conference, the relief and disaster management ministry issued a preparation advice. Today, the advice was repeated with specific information.

The deputy commissioners have been directed to repair weak embankments, Minister Anisul said.

Regarding the recent inundation of several places including Dhaka and Chittagong, the minister said it was not a flood, rather water logging caused by incessant rain.

Mahmud also stressed on the need for river dredging to avoid erosion and assured that Water Resource Ministry will spend half of its total allocation for dredging work in the future.