Rising water level in Ganges basin deteriorates flood situation further

Incessant rise of the water level of  most of the rivers in the Ganges basin, caused by heavy downpour and onrush of water from the upper catchment, for the last couple of days further deteriorated the flood situation in the region.

Of the total 30 river points in the Ganges basin, water levels increased at 18 stations and decreased at nine stations as of 9am on Tuesday, aggravating the flood situation in the char (river bed) and other low-lying areas.

The rivers, however, were flowing below the danger mark at 23 points, and at above danger mark at six points Tuesday morning.

The local office of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) has recorded a rising trend of water levels in almost all points like Pankha, Rajshahi, Hardinge Bridge, Talbaria, and Goalunda in the past 24 hours ending at 9 am on Tuesday, said Mukhlesur Rahman, executive engineer of BWDB.

In Jamalpur, although the floodwater in Jamuna and Brahmaputra is receding, the overall flood situation is still unchanged.

The flood has remained stagnant in the district for three weeks because of persistent rainfall and the Jamuna River flowing 91cm above the danger mark at Bahadurabad Ghat point on Tuesday morning, confirmed Abdul Mannan, BWDB gauge reader.

Over 1,000,000 people are still marooned and facing huge scarcity of pure drinking water and proper sanitation, said the district administration office sources.

In Rajshahi division, the water level of the Ganges River increased by 5cm at Pankha in Chapainawabganj, 4cm at Rajshahi, 3cm at Hardinge Bridge and Talbaria points each, while the level in the Padma River increased by one cm at Goalanda point.

Of the 14 river points both in Ganges and Brahmaputra basins, monitored in almost all eight districts under Rajshahi division, water levels increased at five stations, decreased at eight stations, and remained stable at one point.

In Bogra and Sirajganj, the water level of the Karatoya and Jamuna Rivers have shown a receding trend Tuesday morning improving the flood situation in the districts.

Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, the Executive Engineer of Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), said the water level in the Karatoya River increased by 2cm at Bogra point while it decreased by 24cm at Chak Rahimpur. 

The river was flowing 147cm and 5cm below the danger mark at these two stations respectively this morning.

In Natore, the water level in Gur River increased by 5cm at Shingra point in the district and the river was flowing 91 cm above the danger mark.

In Chapainawabganj, the water level in the Mahananda River has also decreased by 3cm at Rohanpur point in and the river was flowing 76cm below the danger mark in the district.

In Naogaon, the Atrai River was still flowing 18 cm above the danger mark at Atrai point with 7cm decrease afresh, while flowing at 287 cm below the danger mark with 45cm decrease at Mohadevpur point.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health has undertaken all possible measures to prevent any outbreak of water-borne diseases among the marooned people in the flood-affected areas amid the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Divisional Director of Health Dr Gopendra Nath Acharya told BSS that 658 medical teams are working in 65 flood-affected unions under 14 upazilas in the Rajshahi division. Besides, 18 flood shelters were opened in Bogra district.

He added that 50 unions in Sirajganj, 10 in Bogra, and five in Natore are the worst affected ones.

Moinul Islam, Additional Divisional Commissioner of Rajshahi, said standing crops on around 16,000 hectares of land were affected in Rajshahi, Bogra, Natore, Naogaon, Sirajganj, and Pabna districts.

The government has been distributing relief materials like 674.15 tonnes of rice, Tk 11.44 lakh in cash, Tk four lakh for baby food, around 4.25 lakh packets of dry foods and another Tk four lakh for cattle-feed in the worst-affected areas of Rajshahi, Natore, Naogaon, Chapainawabganj, Sirajganj, and Bogra districts.

The government has also stocks of another 1,484.85 tonnes of rice, Tk34.04 lakh in cash, Tk6 lakh for baby food, 8,150 packets of dry foods, and Tk6 lakh for cattle feed for all the eight districts in the division to cope with the adverse flood situation.

If necessary, there are also additional relief materials of 1,500 tonnes of rice, Tk6 lakh for baby food, 15,000 packets of dry food and Tk15 lakh for cattle-feed for Sirajganj, Bogra and Pabna districts, Mainul Islam added.