Crops severely damaged by floods in Bogura; water levels in Tangail continue to rise

The water level in the Jamuna River in Bogura has decreased but the water level in the Bangali river has increased over the last few days, flooding several new areas and damaging houses and crops.

Thousands of families have been stranded in Sonatala, Sariakandi, Dhunat and Sherpur upazilas of Bogura due to rising water level in the Bangali river.

Meanwhile, the water level in Tangail continues to rise. Eleven out of 12 upazilas  of the district are  flooded. Five lakh people of the district have been affected by the floods that have come about in two phases. 

Our bureaus and representatives have reported from flood-affected areas.

CROPS WORTH TK74 CRORE DAMAGED DUE TO FLOODS IN BOGURA

According to the Water Development Board, there is no fear of a major increase in the water level of the Jamuna in the next few days. However, the water coming in from upstream and heavy rainfall may increase the water a bit.

Mahbubur Rahman, the executive engineer of the Bogura Water Development Board, said the water level in the Jamuna had decreased over the last few days. At present, the water in the Jamuna is flowing 113 cm over the danger level, and the Bengali river is flowing 22.6 cm above the danger line. There is little possibility of an increase in water in the Jamuna in the near future.

The acting deputy director of the Bogura Agriculture Extension Department, Sohail Shamsuddin Firoz, said the floods in Bogura had damaged 6,327 hectares of cropland of 48,000 farmers, which is worth about Tk 74.34 crores.

He further said that due to the increase in water in the third phase of the floods, another 67 hectares of new cropland is underwater.

Sariakandi upazila nirbahi officer Russell Mia said crops worth Tk 65.38 crore have been damaged in the upazila. 335 tonnes of rice and six and a half thousand packets of dry food have already been distributed to flood-affected people.

THE FLOODS AFFECT ABOUT FIVE AND A HALF LAKH PEOPLE IN TANGAIL

The water level of all the rivers in Tangail is constantly rising. Eleven upazilas of the district are flooded. The villages along the river banks are being flooded anew. Roads, ghats and bridges, in particular, are crumbling under the pressure of the water. As a result, about five and a half lakh people have been affected.

According to the District Water Development Board, the water of the Dhaleshwari river was flowing 163 cm above the danger level on Monday morning. The water of the Jamuna river is flowing at 102 cm above the danger level and the water of the Jhenai river is flowing at 70 cm above the danger level.

According to the District Relief and Rehabilitation Office, at least 750 villages in 89 unions have been flooded, and six municipalities have been partially flooded. Nearly, five and a half lakh people have been affected by the floods. As many as  71,720 families have become waterlogged. 

According to sources at the district agriculture department, 3,839 hectares of cropland in Tangail have been damaged in the first phase of floods, affecting 26,233 people. Until Monday, 10,074 hectares of cropland including sown Aman, transplanted Aman (seedbed), Aus, vegetables, lemon, etc have been inundated in the second phase of floods.