Flood situation likely to worsen further

Authorities from the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) have forecasted that the flood situation in the country has improved temporarily for some time, but it is likely to worsen again next week.

The water level of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river has already started rising which may continue for the next 48 hours. On the other hand, the water level of Ganga-Padma river has decreased which may also continue similarly, said BWDB Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre ((FFWC) executive engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan.

Meanwhile, the water level of the tributaries of the upper Meghna basin in the north-east is also on the rising trend which may continue for the next 24 hours. On the other hand, in the next 24 hours, the flood situation in the low-lying areas adjacent to the capital may improve. 

The local BWDB office has recorded a rising trend of water at all the three points of the Jamuna River. The water level increased by 13cm each at Sariakandi in Bogra and at Kazipur in Sirajganj and 12cm at Sirajganj points.

In Sirajganj, the water level of Jamuna river has started to increase for the fourth time, threatening prolonged floods in the district, reports our Sirajganj correspondent Aminul Islam Khan.

After three weeks of receding water level, Jamuna River started to swell again from Wednesday, according to the BWDB office of Sirajganj.

It is flowing at 7cm, which is 36 centimetres below the danger mark at the hard point of Jamuna River in Sirajganj, said AKM Rafikul Islam, sub-divisional engineer of Sirajganj WDB.

"This is the fourth phase of increasing water level in the district. The water level will be increasing in the next few days but we are hopeful that it will not cross the danger level this time," Rafikul said.

In Chandpur, about 25 metres of area surrounding the main river embankment has shown cracks and devoured a large amount of the concrete blocks in the embankment threatening to erode a large part of the district, reports our correspondent Ibrahim Rony.

The cracks suddenly started appearing near Puranbazar's Harisabha around 10pm Wednesday creating panic among locals, said BWDB Executive Engineer MD Babul Akhter. 

"We are installing geo bags in the embankment so that we can slow down the erosion caused by the high tides of the flood," added the official.

In Tangail, the overall flood situation of the district has improved yet the severe erosion in Jamuna and Dhaleshwari rivers are adding to the misery of flood affected people. 

The devastating flood has damaged thousands of  homesteads, crop fields, infrastructures, and the poor people of the district are still passing their days in different shelters waiting for the calamity to end, reports our correspondent Abdullah Al Numan.

While in other districts the flood water has receded in major rivers, in Tangail, the water level of Dhaleshwari is flowing at 47cm and in Bangshai at 48cm above the danger mark, confirmed Sirajul Islam, executive engineer of BWDB Tangail zone.

In Gaibandha, fish worth Tk4.39 crore in 943 ponds have been washed away by the flood that hit the district thrice in the last two months, reports our correspondent Tajul Islam Reja.

Around 677 fishermen became penniless after losing their investment in the flood and infrastructures worth Tk17 lakh or more have been damaged, said the district’s fisheries office sources.

Khalilur Rahman, a fisherman of Bhasharpara village said, he along with other fishermen have faced a huge amount of loss that is beyond their capacity to fortify.

He asked the fisheries department to provide loans for fishermen like him so that they can mitigate their losses.