Floods improve in north

flood

People move to safety as floodwater inundates Shibalay in Manikganj. The photo was taken on Monday. — Sony Ramany

The water level in all of the major rivers fell further on Monday, improving overall flood situation in the northern districts, according to Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.
As the Ganges-Padma river basin continued falling, the flood-affected districts in the country’s central zones would also improve soon, the FFWC officials hoped.
They, however, said that the water level rose further in the rivers surrounding Dhaka and lower central zone of the country and within two days the water would start receding, FFWC’s executive engineer Sazzad Hossain told New Age on Monday.
‘Overall floods have improved further,’ he said, adding that after Goalanda point, the River Padma already started falling in the Bhayghakul point in Munshiganj.
About the River Sitalakya, he said that water level in the river rose on Monday because of the water surge in the River Meghna.
The death toll from floods in 31 districts rose to 121 on Monday from 115 on Sunday, the disaster management department statistics show.
According to FFWC’s summery report, the Brahmaputra-Jamuna, the Padma, the Surma and the Kushiyara rivers were in the falling trend, while the River Padma was slightly in a rising trend.
The Brahmaputra-Jamuna may continue to fall in the next 72 hours from Monday morning while the Padma may continue falling in the next 48 hours from Monday.
According to updates of the ministry of disaster management and relief, the number of flood-affected people has increased to 68.99 lakh until Sunday and the affected districts to 31.
The fresh floods that hit the north-eastern parts of the country in the second week of the month have already left trails of devastation in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Jamalpur and Thakurgaon among other districts.
The affected people are now facing shortage of drinking water, food and medicines due to inadequate relief operations in the worst affected areas, New Age correspondents in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur report.

Source: New Age