The flood situation has started improving following sharp falls in water levels of all major rivers at all points amid less rainfall in northern districts.
Officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said the water level of the Dharla, Dudhkumar and Teesta marked sharp falls following a reduction in the rate of onrushing water from upstream and the trend would continue during the next 24 hours on Sunday.
The Teesta was flowing below the danger level at Teesta Barrage, Dalia Point in Hatibandha under Lalmonirhat district Sunday afternoon. All 44 gates of the Dalia barrage were still kept open to cope with the rush of upstream water in the river, said Executive Engineer, Dalia Barrage division, BWDB, Mohammad Ashfauddullah. India has opened 54 gates at Ghazaldoba Barrage upstream.
The Dudkumar River is flowing below 4 cm at Pateswary point in Nageshwari upazila of Kurigram district while Dharla is flowing below 21 cm danger mark at Kurigram Sadar point and the Teesta is flowing 26 cm below the danger mark at Kawnia railway bridge point of Rangpur district.
Sunil Kumar, executive engineer of BWDB in Lalmonirhat, said the flow of water in the rivers started receding on Saturday afternoon.
Abdullah Al Mamun, executive engineer of BWDB in Kurigram, said the water level in Brahmaputra, Dharla, Dudhkumar, and Teesta Rivers are decreasing in the district.
No fresh areas were inundated as floodwater started receding to improve the situation in Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Rangpur districts in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, incidents of sporadic erosion of riverbanks with unstable soil texture were reported from a few places alongside the Teesta, Dharla, Brahmaputra and other rivers in Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Kurigram and Gaibandha during the last few days.
Acting Chief Engineer of BWDB’s Rangpur Zone Engineer Md Mahbubur Rahman said the flood situation started improving as the rate of onrushing water from upstream significantly reduced in the last 24 hours in the Brahmaputra basin.
“We are conducting riverbank protection works and repairing breached embankments on an emergency basis at some 65 vulnerable points alongside major rivers in Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts,” Engineer Rahman added.
The Dudhkumar was still flowing above the danger mark (DM) by 9cm at Pateswari point in Nageswari of Kurigram district while all other rivers were flowing below their respective DMs at other points in the basin.
Following falls in their water levels in the last 24 hours, the Dharla was flowing below DM by 14cm at Kurigram while Brahmaputra was flowing below DM by 35cm at Noonkhawa, 15cm at Hatia and 30cm at Chilmari points in Kurigram at 9 am Sunday.
At 9 am on Sunday, the Jamuna was flowing below DM by 6cm at Fulchhari, 36cm at Shaghata, 5cm at Bahadurabad, 8cm at Sariakandi, 49cm at Kazipur and 18cm at Sirajganj points in the basin.
The district and upazila administrations in association with local public representatives are conducting relief activities in affected areas of flood-hit districts to stand beside deluge-hit people and mitigate their sufferings.
Kurigram Rangpur District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer (DRRO) Md Abdul Hye Sarker said the government has allocated 650 tonnes of rice, Tk 10 lakh and 2,000 packets of dry food for conducting relief operations in the district.
“The district administration has already allocated 275 tonnes of rice, Tk 8.50 lakh and 300 packets of dry foods and those are being distributed among flood-hit people of all nine flood-hit upazilas in the district,” he said.
He said some 62,880 people of 15,720 families have been marooned in 185 flood-hit villages of 45 unions in the district where 1,640 houses have also been eroded and 14,010 more houses damaged partially or so far.
“We have kept 275 water vessels on standby for rescue operation and 361 flood shelters ready to shelter 82,350 flood-hit people across the district,” Sarker added. Rangpur Divisional Commissioner Md Habibur Rahman said relief operations are continuing in deluge-affected districts in Rangpur division where medical teams are also ready to provide health services to flood-hit people.
