Bangladesh: 10 killed as flood situation worsens

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The flood situation has taken a danger look in different parts of Bangladesh since the beginning of monsoon forcing hundreds of thousands of people to get marooned and displaced.

The situation has taken such a look as most of the rivers of the country are overflowing while some have already crossed the danger level.

Till Wednesday, at least 10 people were drowned across the country leaving about 1.3 million people marooned for last few days, according to local media and department of disaster management.

Md. Arifuzzaman Bhuyan, an executive engineer at Bangladesh Water Development Board, told Anadolu Agency that current flood situation has begun last week and is likely to improve from the next week.

The flood situation occurred mainly because of heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya in India, and such a rainfall and overflow of river waters are normal in this period of time as monsoon is on, he added.

Besides, “the impact of climate changes also played role in the rise of river waters, and we need more researches in this field to take pre-measures,” said Mr Bhuyan who is also an expert at the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).

In the meantime, people in flood-affected areas are facing food crisis, shortage of pure drinking water, while some were suffering from water-borne diseases.

To help the flood victims, the government also allocated 17,550 tons of food items and $247,964.20 to the flood victims, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman told reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday.

On the other hand, the FFWC said that monsoon would possibly hit four more districts, however, heavy rains are not likely to fall in next 48 hours.

Professor Ainun Nishat, an expert of water resource management and climate change in Bangladesh, told Anadolu Agency that waters from neighboring India and Nepal are also flowing down to Bangladesh.

Enlarging the embankments around the rivers, dredging of rivers and canals and building switch-gates in front of canals could free people from floods, he suggested.

The country witnessed much worse situation in 2017 when 42% of the total land of Bangladesh submerged in flood waters bringing untold sufferings for millions of people.