Low-lying areas along the River Teesta in the Rangpur division may encounter flash floods due to heavy to very heavy rainfall likely to occur over vast swathes of land expanding from northern Bangladesh to upstream places across the borders in India, Bhutan and Nepal.
A special bulletin of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre issued on Sunday afternoon said that the water level in the Teesta in the Rangpur division might rapidly rise with the river flowing close to its danger mark following heavy to very heavy rainfall between June 22 and 25.
Other rivers in the Rangpur division such as Dharla and Dudhkumar may also rapidly swell over the same period due to heavy to very heavy rainfall, the FFWC said.
Low-lying areas of Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur and Kurigram districts may witness flash floods, it said.
The Teesta was flowing 65 centimetres below the danger mark at Dalia and 78cm below the danger mark at Kaunia in Ranpur at 9:00am on Sunday.
Rivers in the Brahmaputra basin, of which the Teesta is a part, mostly swelled in the 24 hours reporting period till Sunday morning, with the Teesta swelling by 17cm at Tarapur and 4cm at Haripur point.
The Teesta is a rather short river flowing 315 kilometres, including 130km inside Bangladesh, after rising in the Himalayas in the Indian state of Sikkim.
The river lost its natural flow due to arbitrary withdrawals of water from it by upstream countries, especially India, turning the river flash-flood prone more than ever before during heavy spells of rain during the monsoon.
Barrages, bridges and other obstructions have been built across the river by India which typically releases huge volumes of water towards Bangladesh after a heavy spell of rain.
The Bangladesh Metrological Department has forecasted extensive rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in its northern region, including the Rangpur division on June 25.
In the 24 hours till 6:00pm on Sunday, the BMD said, Bangladesh鈥檚 highest maximum rainfall of 135 millimetres was recorded at Khepupara in Barishal.
Bangladesh鈥檚 highest maximum day temperature of 35.2C was recorded at Nikli in the Dhaka division.
