Intermittent rainfall continued in different areas of the country on Thursday, causing water stagnation in low-lying areas already submerged by rainfall for the past four days.
Less rainfall compared with that in the past few days was recorded at all places including the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong in 24 hours till 6:00am Thursday, Met Office said.
The rainfall recorded in Teknaf was 173millimetre, in Cox’s Bazar 99mm, in Bogra 84mm, in Comilla 75mm, in Panchpukuria 70mm, in Sylhet 64mm, in Mahadebpur 63.3mm and in Sirajganj 46.3mm.
The Met Office recorded only 12.5mm rainfall in Dhaka and 33mm in Chittagong in the period.
The flood forecasting and warning center of the Bangladesh Water Development Board said that river heights were monitored at 73 water level stations. Rives marked rise at 47 points and fall at 22 points in 24 hours till 6:00am Thursday.
The centre said the River Padma marked a rise by 2 centimetres at Goalunda but was still flowing 13 centimetres above danger level at the point at 6:00am on Thursday.
The Arialkhan registered a 1cm rise and was flowing 13cm above flood mark at Madaripur Thursday morning.
The River Kobadak swelled by 19cm and was flowing 49cm above danger level at Jhikargacha, the centre said.
The Tongi Khal marked a 20cm rise and was measured 22cm above danger level at Tongi.
The hilly river Kangsa registered a rise by 19cm and was flowing 32cm above its flood level at Jariajanjail and the Sangu marked an abrupt swell of 155cm which pushed it 73cm above danger level Thursday morning.
The Padma and the Meghna were rising and the trend was likely to continue today, the centre added.
The New Age correspondent in Pabna said that the erosion by the Padma had taken a serious turn, rendering many homeless in six villages of Ishwardi.
More than 600 houses, five educational institutions and a mosque have been washed away by the swelling river in two weeks, the Shara union council chairman, Jarzis Hossain, said.
The correspondent in Satkhira said that the overall flood situation took a serious turn at Tala, Kalaroa and sadar which were inundated because of five days of rainfall and water spilling from the silted Kabodak and the Betna.
More than 3.5 lakh people in 278 villages of Tala, four unions at Kalaroa and three unions at sadar upazila have been marooned.
The Department of Agricultural Extension in the district said that more than 40,000 acres of transplanted aman field, 400 acres of seedbed, 1050 acres of aush field, 425 acres of turmeric, 575 hectares of vegetable field and 145 hectares of other crops had been submerged.
Shrimp farms on nearly 48,000 acres of land and more than 23,000 fish-farming ponds in the area have been affected, sources in the fisheries department said.
The people in the affected areas have taken shelter on high roads and in educational institutions and passing days without food, drinking water and medicines.
More than 1,800 homeless families have taken shelter in schools at Kashipur, Ghosh Nagar and Islamkati of Tala and nearly 127 families have taken shelter in Taltala High School in the sadar upazila.
Local leaders said that many families had preferred staying back on raised platforms in their inundated houses.
The Satkhira deputy commissioner, Mohammad Abdus Samad, said that letters had been sent to the ministry seeking a sanction 500 tonnes of rice and Taka 10 lakh to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people.
The local administration sanctioned 265 tonnes of rice and Tk 45,000 in cash for the affected people at Tala and 50 tonnes of rice and Tk 20,000 in cash for people at Kalaroa, he added.
-With New Age input
