Fresh flood strikes Sirajganj villages

Fresh floods hit at least 30 villages of Sirajganj after a portion of an embankment eroded while the Jamuna in Gaibandha and Brahmaputra in Kurigram were flowing above the danger level yesterday, bringing misery to people in the districts.

Many families in char areas of Gaibandha were living in waist-deep deluged houses raising their bedstead above the water level on bamboo poles.

Click on the markers on the map and zoom in to see details on the flood situation in 12 districts of Bangladesh.

Meanwhile in Kurigram, water of the Dharla, Teesta and Dudhkumar started receding, according to the district Water Development Board.

A portion of the flood protection embankment eroded at Bahuka under Ratankandi union of Sirajganj Sadar upazila around 8:00pm on Thursday, said local Union Parishad Member Md Tarikul Islam.

He said water from the Jamuna submerged Bahuka, Shimla, Itali, Balighugri, Chilgacha, Gogaria, Pachthakuri and 30 adjoining villages due to the sudden erosion.

Hasan Imam, executive engineer of Sirajganj Water Development Board, said WDB workers along with army men were trying to repair the embankment by dumping sand bags and installing bamboo enclosures, he said.

Wazed Ali, a schoolteacher from Shimla, said the villages went under water within a few hours and people could not shift their belongings. “Most of them left home without their household items,” he said.

District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Abdur Rahim told The Daily Star the villagers mostly took shelter on the flood protection embankment.

“Flood water entered the villages rapidly and schools and other institutions went under water. We could not open any flood shelter.”

He said the district administration distributed 100 packets of relief materials among the victims.

In Gaibandha, flood situation remained unchanged yesterday with the Jamuna flowing above the danger mark due to onrush of water from the upstream, reports our Gaibandha correspondent.

District Primary Education Officer Aminul Islam Mandol said 141 educational institutes remained closed in flood-affected Sundarganj, Gaibandha Sadar, Phulchhari and Saghata upazilas.

Seventy families in Goghat were shifted to other places due to river erosion in the last two days, locals said.

Lucky Begum, a housewife at a char land of Purbo Ratanpur under Phulchhari, said in fear of looting of their belongings by robbers, adult family members were staying at home.

Gaibandha Deputy Commissioner Gautam Chandra Pal said adequate relief materials were provided to the flood victims.

In Kurigram, the Brahmaputra was flowing 34cm above the danger level at Chilmari Ghat point yesterday noon, said district WDB sources.

They said water levels of other rivers were below the danger mark.

Meanwhile, Relief and Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya yesterday urged doctors to visit shelter centres in flood-affected areas regularly to tackle water-borne diseases, says a press release.

“The absence of doctors will not be tolerated,” he told a meeting on flood situation at Jamalpur Deputy Commissioner's office.

[Our correspondents from Pabna, Gaibandha and Kurigram contributed to the report]