3.5 lakh people marooned in Jamalpur flood

The flood situation in Jamalpur worsened as the Jamuna river waters rose 126 cm above danger mark at Bahadurabad Ghat point in Dewanganj upazila of the district as of this noon, according to the Water Development Board.

Around 3.5 lakh people under 342 villages of all seven upazilas and four municipalities have been marooned at this point, said Nayeb Ali, district relief and rehabilitation officer (DRRO).

During this second phase of flood, only 31,000 families out of 81 thousand flood-hit families have been provided 310 metric tonnes of government rice and cash Tk 12.5 lakh, which has been spent mostly on purchasing dry food to support the flood-hit, he said.

At least 50 thousand flood-hit families have been excluded from the government relief as they are not considered to be "in dire need". But the real scenario is that they also deserve the government relief due to fall out of coronavirus outbreak, said local government representatives.