Flood caused by flashy rivers across the border in India has started to recede after damaging crop lands and fisheries in many northern and central districts in the past two weeks. In Gaibandha, standing crops, including T-Aman paddy, Aman seed beds and summer vegetables on 1,157 hectares of land have been damaged due to the flood caused by water from hilly areas in India. A total of 19 unions of Sundarganj, Sadar, Fulchhari and Saghata upazilas remained flooded in the past two weeks, New Age Gaibandha correspondent reported. More than 85,0000 people have been facing a shortage of pure drinking water and food. Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension said that floodwater submerged crop fields on over 30,000 hectares of land in low-lying areas of the Rangpur agriculture region alone.
Agriculture minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque on Monday informed the cabinet that the flood would not hamper Aman cultivation in the current crop season. ‘We have already planted Aman on 57 lakh acres of land against a target of 60 lakh acres. In case of any problem, T-Aman would be planted,’ cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam at a briefing at the secretariat quoted the agriculture minister as saying. Presiding over the meeting virtually from her residence Ganabhaban, prime minister Sheikh Hasina asked the authorities concerned for ensuring relief goods for the flood-affected people, the cabinet secretary said. Flood-hit people in the affected districts said that they were facing a shortage of pure drinking water and food amid the inadequate supply of reliefs. They are facing risks of river erosion with the water receding in the Brahmaputra river system in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur and Gaibandha. Our Tangail correspondent said that the flood situation in the districts was mixed.
Flood improved in some places and it remained unchanged in others places. People in Basail and Mirzapur predicted deterioration of flood there with water rising in the River Bangshi. Flood in the affected districts is expected to recede quickly as the water level in major rivers will continue to fall in the next seven days, according to a government report. The Brahmaputra-Jamuna river system water level will continue to fall in the next one week as flood in Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Bogura, Tangail, Manikganj will improve quickly. The flood situation in Munshiganj and Shariatpur will also improvement as the water level in the Ganges-Padma will fall during the same period, said the report of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre under the Bangladesh Water Development Board.
The forecast of the report valid for 10 days was released on Monday. The FFWC daily report on Monday said that nine rivers at 17 points were still flowing above their respective danger levels. The rivers are Dharla, Brahmaputra, Jamuna, Turag, Kaliganga, Padma, Atrai, Dhaleswari and Muhuri. The state-owned news agency, BSS, reported that the overall flood situation in Jamalpur further improved in the past 24 hours. District relief and rehabilitation officer Md Nayeb Ali said that about 1 lakh people of 169 villages in six upazilas of the district were affected by the flood. Bangladesh Water Development Board officials said that the water levels of all major rivers marked further sharp falls at all points following the continuous recession in the rate of onrushing water from the upstream during the period.