About 25,000 families in Lalmonirhat, Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi districts were marooned on Wednesday as low-lying areas have been flooded due to a persistent rise in the water levels of the Teesta and Padma rivers.
An onrush of water from upstream and heavy rainfall were behind the water level rise in the two rivers.
In Lalmonirhat, the rise in the Teesta water level flooded the low-lying areas on the left bank of the river, leaving about 15,000 families stranded.
About 10,000 families in Chapainawabganj and Rajshahi districts have been marooned as low-lying areas have been flooded due to a continued rise in the Padma river鈥檚 water level.
In Chapainawabganj, flooding caused extensive damage to crops as 1,342 hectares of farmland went under water.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions during the next 24 hours commencing at 9:00am on Wednesday, as per a special bulletin of the Bangladesh Metrological Department.
Meanwhile, maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox鈥檚 Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal no 3 as a low-pressure area has been formed over west central bay and adjoining northwest bay off North Andhra Pradesh and South Odisha coast of India at 6:00am on Wednesday.
Quoting Bangladesh Water Development Board Lalmonirhat office executive engineer Sunil Kumar Roy, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that the water level in the Teesta Barrage at Hatibandha upazila started rising on Tuesday morning and on Wednesday afternoon, it was flowing 7 centimetres above the danger level.
He said that as a result, the lower reaches of the Teesta river have been flooded and about 15,000 families have been waterlogged.
Residents of the riverbank said that the cultivated fields of the low-lying areas have been submerged in water and communications with the char areas have already been cut off. Families in the low-lying areas are getting waterlogged.
The number of families affected is increasing, they added.
The increase in Teesta water has inundated several low-lying areas of Lalmonirhat Sadar, Patgram, Hatibandha, Kaliganj, and Aditmari upazilas.
Among them, Dahagram is in Patgram, Gaddimari, Doani, Chhayani, Saniajan, Singimari, Sindurna, Haldibari, Dauabari in Hatibandha, Botmari in Kaliganj, Shailmari, Nohali, Mahishkhocha in Aditmari, Govardhan, Bahadurpara, Khuniagach, Mogalhat, Rajpur and Gokunda union in Sadar upazila.
Abdul Matin of Haldibari Char at Hatibandha said that the residents, including children and the elderly, of these areas were in an extreme danger. And livestock and birds were also in a grave danger, he said.
Azizul Islam of Aditmari鈥檚 Char Gobardhan area said that crop fields, roads and ponds had been submerged and road communications in the char areas had been cut off.
抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that the Padma river鈥檚 water level rose by 3 centimetres in the 24 hours till Wednesday evening and was flowing 56 centimetres below the danger mark at the T-bandh point in Rajshahi city at 6:00pm on Wednesday, said gauge reader Enamul Haque.
鈥楾he water level may increase by 10 centimetres in the next two or three days,鈥� said Rajshahi WDB executive engineer Arifur Rahman, adding that there was, however, no immediate threat of surpassing the danger level of the river鈥檚 water level.
Chapainawabganj鈥檚 Shibganj upazila nirbahi officer Azahar Ali said that the surge in the Padma river water had left about 7,500 people in Paka, Ujirpur and Durlavpur unions marooned.
He said that they had been distributing various relief items, including rice, lentils and water-purifying tablets, among the affected families.
Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila nirbahi officer Nurul Islam said that over 1,500 families at Narayanpur and Alatuli unions under the upazila were stranded due to the rise in the water level.
The floods caused extensive damage to crops as 1,342 hectares of farmland went under water, he added.
In Rajshahi district, low-lying areas of Bagha upazila and large parts of Char Khidirpur, Char Khanpur and Char Tarapur along the Indian border under Paba upazila, were submerged, leaving over 1,000 families marooned.
Bagha upazila nirbahi officer Shammi Akter said that initial reports showed that the flood marooned 220 families at the upazila till Wednesday.
Paba upazila nirbahi officer Arafat Aman Aziz told 抖阴精品 that about 1,500 people of Char Khidirpur, Char Khanpur and Char Tarapur were marooned till Wednesday.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on Wednesday also issued flood warning for the low-lying areas in the river basins in Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur and Kurigram districts in the next 24 hours.