Flood situation is worsening in northern region of the country as water levels of all major rivers are rising.
Thousands of houses, croplands and roads have been submerged causing huge sufferings for the people in the region.
Rangpur Divisional Primary Education Department Deputy Director Mujahidul Islam said some 86 primary schools in Kurigram and 114 in Gaibandha district have been kept shut as the flood water entered the schools.
Gaibandha District Education Officer, Ruksana Begum said, “We shut down 20 high schools and madrasas in the district as flooding intensified.”
An HSC examination centre – Fulchori Government Degree College has been shifted to Vhortkhali High School under Saghata Upazila as the compound of the college was inundated, she added.
Kurigram District Education Officer Shamsul Haq said academic activities remained halted in 71 high schools, and 32 madrasas in six upazilas of the district as flood water submerged the entire campuses of the institutes.
The flood-hit people said they are suffering for want of food and drinking water. Many of them said the government relief activities are not sufficient according to the affected families. Roads, houses and croplands have been washed away.
The sufferings of the domestic cattle mounted high as the grass fields in the villages were inundated. The fodder crisis further worsened the situation for them.
Amjad Ali, an elderly man at Botuatoli village in Ulipur Upazila said, his house has been marooned for the last five days. He along with his family members took shelter on government khas land. They are suffering from drinking water and remain half-fed for want of food and money.
Another victim Jamal Miah of the same village said the tin-shed roof of the house and domestic cattle- two cows and three goats were flooded in the rush of water.
Abdul Kaiyum, chairman of Bazra Union Parishad at Kurigram’s Ulipur Upazila, said that his entire union has been inundated. 65 houses were lost in the river, acres of croplands were submerged and many roads were washed away during the past two weeks.
According to the sources of the Rangpur divisional commissioner’s office, around 2 lakh people had been affected by the flood in Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, and Nilphamari.
Rangpur Divisional Commissioner, Zakir Hossain said, thousands of people have been affected in the districts of the division. Kurigram and Gaibandha districts are the worst hit.
Some 572.32 square kilometre areas in 42 unions of Kurigram district have been marooned. A total of 458 families have become erosion hit and 84,252 people were marooned. The district administration has kept 404 flood shelters ready. Some 3124 people including 710 domestic cattle took shelter in 26 flood shelters.
Some 83 medical teams have been kept ready to serve the affected people. The district administration distributed 291 tonnes of rice, cash TK 22 lakh and 15,320 packets of dry food among the flood-hit people.
Meanwhile, some 599.700 square kilometre areas in 29 unions under four upazilas- Rangpur Sadar, Saghata. Fulchori and Sundarganj in Gaibandha District have been flooded. Some 28,928 families- 1,15,712 people were marooned and of them, 235 families have become erosion hit. Some 132 flood shelters were kept open and 32 have been filled with some 9,919 people including 2,835 cattle.
A total of 163 medical teams have been formed to serve the ailing people. Boats and speed boats were also kept ready to bring the flood victims to safer places.
The district administration has also distributed 165 tonnes of rice, cash Tk 10 lakh and 3,050 dry food packets among the flood victims in the district, the divisional commissioner added.
Around 6,000 hectares of croplands have been marooned in Kurigram District while 3,161 hectares are in Gaibandha District said, Deputy Director, DAE Rangpur, Abdullah AL Mamun.
The damage and losses are yet to be calculated, he noted.
Meanwhile, the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) stood beside the flood victims of four upazilas in Gaibandha District and distributed cash of TK 10 crore among 20,000 flood-affected victims through their respective bKash accounts.
Each of the flood victims got TK 5,000 from the WFP.
On the other hand, Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK), a local voluntary non-government organisation also distributed dignity kit materials (16 kinds) to the flood-affected families of Kunderpara char under Gaibandha Sadar with the assistance of UNFPA, said an official of the organisation.
Executive Engineer, WDB, Kurigram, Raqibul Hasan said the water level in the Brahmaputra and Dudkumar Rivers has been increasing since last Tuesday due to a rush of upstream water.
The water level was flowing 71 centimetres below the danger mark on Saturday noon at Chilamri point while Dudkuar was flowing 28 cm above the danger mark at Pateshori point of the district. The situation might further worsen, he added.
The Jamuna was flowing 86 cm above the danger mark at Fulchhari point in Gaibandha District while Teesta was flowing below the danger level at Kawnia railway bridge point on Saturday according to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Rangpur office.
