Floodwater recedes in Tangail, not people’s sufferings

The waters of the Jamuna, Dhaleshwari and Jhenai rivers in Tangail have begun to recede, but that has hardly provided any comfort to the flood-affected people. Receding floodwaters have brought further misery to the people as there is a shortage of pure water and cattle feed.

However, fear of severe erosion in the rivers has gripped the people in the area as the water level has started going down.

Around 1.75 lakh people in 196 villages of six upazilas under Tangail are stranded in the floodwater. So far, river erosion has devoured 661 houses in the devastating floods, district administration sources said.

The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said the Jamuna had been flowing 83cm above the danger line till 9am on Sunday, declining 8cm from the day before. Additionally, other rivers are flowing above the danger level as well.

Gabsara, Arjuna and Gobindasi unions of Bhuapur upazila have been completely flooded, whereas Nikrail and Aloa unions have been partially flooded.

Abdus Samad of Gabsara union said, "Although the floodwater has receded since Sunday morning, there is a fear of river erosion among people. There is also a lack of pure water due to the sinking of tube wells."

Gabasara Union Parishad Chairman Md Moniruzzaman said 40,000 people of 47 villages in the union are still marooned. So far, 550 houses have been washed away into the river.

Meanwhile, large areas of Mahmud Nagar, Katuli, Hugra and Kakua unions of the Tangail Sadar upazila have been inundated, rendering 50,000 people marooned.

Although the district administration distributed dry food, rice and cash allocated by the government, it was insufficient compared to their needs. So the flood victims in the district demanded more relief materials.

District relief and rehabilitation office said 400 tonnes of GR rice, Tk12 lakh in cash and 4,000 packets of dry food were allocated for the flood victims.

BWDB warns of fresh flood from July 20-21

The BWDB on Saturday warned of a recurrence of floods based on a report published by it.

According to the report, heavy rains are forecast in Assam, West Bengal in the Himalayan foothills and north-eastern India for four more days from July 20-21. As a result, there is a risk of a similar flood situation in the north, northeast and central parts of the country.

"According to the forecast data, about 800mm of rain is expected in four days from July 20, which will increase the water pressure in the country's rivers. However, even if the water level rises, the water level in the Padma may start declining continuously from July 26/27. The overall flood situation may return to normal in late July or the first week of August," said Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, executive engineer of the government's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

Hoping for an improvement in the overall flood situation, state minister for Water Resources Zahid Farooq said, "The water level in the Padma has already started declining, so I hope the flood situation in the central districts will improve in the next two or three days. There was no major breach of the flood control dam during the current floods."

The ministry and the Water Development Board, in collaboration with the local district administration, are ready at the field level with the necessary materials and manpower to immediately deal with any emergencies, he added.

In the second week of July, Assam, West Bengal and North-East India received about 900mm of rainfall in four days. As a result, floods occurred in the northern and north-western parts of the country, which inundated the lower reaches of the districts of Rajbari, Dhaka, Munshiganj, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Chandpur.