At least three children--two boys and a girl-- drowned in floodwaters in Moulvibazar and Netrokona districts although the flood situation has improvement in the low-lying areas in the Sylhet division and the country’s eastern region.
Meanwhile, the situation deteriorated in northern region, including in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari district.
Correspondents from Moulvibazar and Netrokona reports; Three children--two boys and a girl-- drowned in floodwaters in Moulvibazar and Netrokona district on Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Hridoy Ahmed, 17, and Sadi Ahmed, 8, of Shyamerkona village in Moulvibazar Sadar Upazila and Tora Moni, 8, of Gourakanda village under Mohanganj Upazila Netrokona district.
Citing villagers, Moulvibazar Sadar Police Station chief Nazrul Islam said Sadi and another child drowned while playing on a banana tree raft in the floodwater next to their house on Thursday afternoon.
Hridoy jumped to the rescue of the two boys and pulled one of them out of the water.
But Hridoy and Sadi were washed away when Hridoy got into the water again to save Sadi.
Their bodies were found later, Nazrul said.
Md Delwar Hossain, chief of Mohanganj Police Station, said Tora fell in the water and went missing on Wednesday afternoon. Her body was recovered on Thursday morning.
Tora Moni’s paternal uncle Foyez Rahman Plaban, convenor of Mohanganj Upazila unit of angladesh Chhatra League, said, “Everyone needs to keep an eye on small children at this time. I request everyone to be careful so that no other family lose their little ones.”
Correspondent from Sylhet reports: after being battered by heavy rains and hill torrents for the past few days, water levels in several rivers in Sylhet have started to recede, improving the flood situation in various areas.
According to the Water Development Board (WDB), as of 9am on Friday, the water level of the Surma River was flowing 16 centimeters above the danger mark at Sylhet point and 65 centimeters above the danger mark at Kanaighat point.
On the other hand, the Kushiyara River was flowing 61 centimeters above the danger mark at Amalsid point, 13 centimeters at Sheola point, 1.2 centimeters at Fenchuganj point, and 24 centimeters at Sherpur point.
Except for a 0.1 cm rise in the Kushiyara River at Fenchuganj point, water levels have decreased by a few centimeters at different points since Thursday evening.
Shah Mohammad Sajib Hossain, Assistant Meteorologist at Sylhet Weather Office, said that in the last 24 hours, Sylhet experienced 20mm of rain. There was no rainfall from Thursday noon until Friday morning.
In the past three weeks, Sylhet city has been inundated five times due to heavy rains, affecting hundreds of areas and causing untold suffering to the dwellers.
At least seven lakh people of Sylhet city and district have been inundated over the past few days, forcing the authorities concerned to open shelter centres to relocate them.
Meanwhile, officials concerned said the flood situation in Netrokona and Sunamganj districts have started to be improved since Friday.
But, they said, the water level may rise in the Dudhkumar, Teesta and Dharala rivers in the northern part of Bangladesh over the next 72 hours.
On the other hand, a short-term floods may hit the low-lying areas in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari. Also, the flood situation may worsen in the low-lying areas of Rangpur.
The water levels of the Brahmaputra and Jamuna Rivers are increasing continuously and are likely to reach the danger level in 72 hours, according to the flood forecast by the Water Development Board.
Also, the water level in the Ganges and Padma Rivers may continue to rise for the next 72 hours, the WDB statement said.
Meanwhile, the main rivers in the northeastern part of the country are seeing their water levels drop, which may continue for the next 48 hours, the statement said.
The Teesta, Surma, Kushiyara, and Old Surma rivers flow over their danger levels at some points.
Some parts of the Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram, and Sylhet Divisions were likely to experience moderate rain with gusty wind or thunderstorms over the next 72 hours, Bangladesh Meteorological Department said in its forecast at 9am on Friday.
“The extended section of western low pressure has spread from West Bengal in India to northwestern Bay of Bengal. The monsoon is now active over Bangladesh,” said meteorologist Bazlur Rashid.
Flood situation worsens in Kurigram as water levels of all rivers rising
UNB from Kurigram reports; The flood situation in Kurigram district deteriorated further as water levels in all sixteen rivers including Teesta, Dudhkumar, Dharla and Brahmaputra keep rising.
Teesta and Dharla rivers were flowing above the danger level on Friday, said Rafsan Jani, sub-divisional engineer of Kurigram Water Development Board.
He said Teesta River was flowing 55 cm above the danger level at Kaunia Point while Dharla river was flowing 15 cm above the red mark at Shimulbari Point in Phulbari, flooding fresh areas in the region.
If the situation persists, there is a possibility that the water of all other rivers will also cross the danger level, he added.
Meanwhile, due to the rise in the water level of all major rivers, thousands of families in the low-lying and char areas of the Teesta and Dharla rivers and other river basins have been stranded.
The communication system in these areas collapsed, causing miseries to residents.
Various unpaved roads went underwater and many were seen commuting home on rafts of banana trees.
Almonds, jute, corn, pepper, other vegetable fields and various emerging crops have been submerged.
The flood situation causing untold suffering to the dwellers including sanitation problems and shortage of drinking water.
Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Saidul Arif said 144mt GR rice and cash of Tk 10.35 lakh have been allocated at the upazila level. It is being prepared for distribution.
He said all the 16 small and big rivers flowing through this district are prone to erosion. Of these, the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar are most prone to catastrophic erosion.
“Apart from ongoing activities to prevent river erosion, the Water Development Board will consider what initiatives can be taken to reduce the suffering of the common people,” he said.
