Flash flood grips three districts

L-R: A woman with her baby at her flood-hit house at Char Jattapur village in Kurigram Sadar upazila yesterday. The flood affected houses at Purbo Chhatnai village in Dimla upazila of Nilphamari.Photo: STAR

Heavy rains and onrush of water from across the border have triggered flash flood in Nilphamari, Kurigram and Netrakona district, marooning over 50,000 people.
In Nilphamari, water from overflowing Teesta has submerged 14 char villages and the low-lying areas in Dimla and Jaldhaka upazilas of the district, according to our correspondent.
The affected villages are Purbo Kharibari, Char Kharibari, Kisamot Chhatnai, Baishpukur, vendabari Tapur Char, Tepa Kharibari, Bhajon Char, Sati Ghat, Jharsingheswar, Bhabhan Char, Gopal Jhar and Holdibari.
Most of the houses at the villages have gone under 3-4 feet water, leaving at least 20,000 people marooned. The flood-hit people face acute crises of food and drinking water.
About 1,000 families have taken shelter at nearby schools, madrasas and on embankment. Mainuddin Mandol, sub-divisional engineer (SDE) of BWDB at Dalia division, said Teesta crossed the danger mark at Dalia point at around 3:00pm yesterday.
The SDE said they have requested the people living at the villages around Teesta Barrage through loudspeakers to move to safer places.
With the swelling of the Teesta, water level in Charal Kata, Deunai, Buri Teesta, Buri Khora, Jamuneswari and Panga rivers of the district have also marked a sharp rise, inundating the low-lying areas.
Heavy rainfall has also made Teesta embankment at Bhaban Char and Gopal Jhar points in Jaldhaka upazila vulnerable. If the embankment is damaged, more areas in Jaldhaka and Dalia will go under water.
Zohurul Islam, executive engineer of BWDB at Dalia division, said they are keeping a close watch on the vulnerable points of the dyke. He, however, said the situation is now under control.
In Kurigram, seven unions under Phulbari, Sadar and Ulipur upazilas of the district have been inundated, marooning over 30,000 people, reports our correspondent.
The river Dharla was flowing above the danger mark at Dharla Bridge point in Sadar upazila while 61 mm of rainfall recorded at the point yesterday afternoon, local water development board sources said.
The affected unions are Phulbari and Barobhita unions under Phubari upazila, Halokhana, Bhogdanga, Mogalbasha and Pachgachi unions under Kurigram Sadar upazila, and Begamganj under Ulipur upazila.
According to union parishad (UP) chairmen, heavy rain in the last two days and water from upstream swelled the river Dharla that overflowed its banks and submerged the villages adjacent to the river.
Over 30,000 people in the affected unions have been marooned while the houses of at least 200 families damaged by the flood.
Of them, 31 families are in Phulbari, 10 families in Barobhita, 12 families in Halokhana, 15 families in Bhogdanga, 101 families in Mogalbasha, 14 families in Pachgachi and 17 families in Begamganj unions.
Our Netrakona correspondent adds: Downpour in the last two days and onrush of water from hills across the border have inundated five unions in bordering Durgapur upazila and four unions in Kalmakanda upazila of the district
ATM Khalequzzaman, executive engineer of Netrakona Water Development Board, said the Someshwary in Durgapur and the Ubdalhali in Kalmakanda upazilas crossed the danger marks yesterday.
Flood has already damaged about 500 thatched houses and 80 percent of the newly transplanted aman seedlings, said Durgapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Kamruzzaman Mia, also the UNO-in-charge of Kalmakanda upazila.
Vegetables on several thousand acres of land in the two upazilas have gone under water, he added.
The affected unions are Birishiri, Gaokandia, Kakoirgora, Bakoljura and Chandigor unions in Durgapur upazila and Kharnai, Rangchati, Lengura and Pogla unions in Kalmakanda upazila.
Netrakona district fisheries officials said fish worth around Tk 5 crore were washed away as floodwaters overflowed about 600 ponds in the unions.
Water Development Board Netrakona office sources said Mogra, Kongsha and Dhanu rivers in the district also marked a sharp rise in the last two days, inundating the areas adjacent to the rivers in Khaliajuri, Atpara and Madan upazilas.
Contacted, Netrakona Water Development Board (WDB) Executive Engineer ATM Khalequzzaman said the flood situation may deteriorate in the district as waters are rolling down the rivers from hills across the border.