Floods destroy livelihood of thousands

Middle-aged farmer Abed Ali found himself in a dilemma when erosion triggered by the swelling of Teesta River gobbled up his crop fields and washed out some parts of his house at Char Kharibari of Teesta River in Nilphamari district last week.
‘I used to dream of a prosperous life with earnings from cultivating different crops on the char land but the flood and erosion have shattered my dream…Now I do not know how to survive with my four family members,’ he said.
Finding no other way to protect his house and other belongings from erosion Abed had to hire a boat for Tk 7,000 to shift his three tin-roof houses and some other household items and take shelter on the embankment near Teesta barrage on Tuesday.
The flood situation in the country’s north-eastern districts further deteriorated on Friday submerging new low lands and affecting many people living in different chars and on river banks, due to rise in water level at all of the major rivers.
According Flood Forecast Warning Center outlook issued on Friday, the flood
situation in Kurigram, Jamalpur and Bogra districts adjacent to Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers is likely to deteriorate further over the next 48 hours.
Talking to New Age on the Teesta embankment, Abed Ali said that he has no alternative but to start life afresh on a new char or another place somewhere in the country, after the rainy season, as he does not have any land left at the char.
He urged the government to provide him withf a parcel of high land to live and some Khas land to cultivate crops to survive with his family members.
Like Abed, around 1,000 people from different chars including Char Kharibari, Purbokaribari, Uttarkahribari and Bagher char have already taken shelter on the embankment and other places as the mighty Teesta river burst their bank and spilled into their chars, gobbling up their crops fields and houses as a result.
More than 250 families from the chars were also took shelter on the high land near Shimanto bazaar of Hatibandha upazila in Lalmonirhat district.
Deputy commissioner of Nilphamari Md Zakir Hossain told New Age Friday that every year flood water entered different chars but this year, erosion of Teesta river took a toll on the chars, displacing several hundred people already.
‘We are providing all the basic facilities including food, medication and sanitation to the flood affected people taking shelters on the embankment and high land,’ he said.
The floodwater also left thousands of people living in different other chars and low-lying areas of Teesta, Brahmaputra, Dharla, Jamuna and Padma basins under several districts, including Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Sirajganj and Bogra, homeless, forcing them to take safe shelters on high lands and their relatives’ houses.
At Porar Char of Brahmaputra basin under Kurigram Sadar upazila, most of the houses were found abandoned on Wednesday as the inhabitants had taken shelter at nearby high lands while some family members were found preparing to leave their houses.
‘It is our destiny. Every year we are to leave home for around two months during the rainy season. Life becomes difficult when our savings dry up,’ said one Shaheb Ali, who was preparing to leave his house.
The lone government primary school on the Porar Char named Ar Raji Govt Primary School has been closed since July 7 as the floodwater inundated the school.
Its assistant teacher Nazrul Islam told New Age that they could not take the half yearly examination due to the flood.
Some family members were found taking shelter at Brahmaputra Ashrayan (shelter) project.
They said that they faced severe difficulties in accessing medication when someone fell sick, as they had to carry the patient by boat to the physicians at upazila sadar.
The flood situation in Kurigram, Jamalpur and Bogra districts adjacent to Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers may likely to deteriorate in the next 48 hours, according to Flood Forecast Warning Center outlook issued on Friday.
The FFWC outlook said that the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Ganges-Padma river systems were on a rising trend while the Surma-Kushiyara river system may likely to continue falling in the next 48 hours.
The water level at nine points of the country’s seven major rivers was flowing above the danger level Friday morning. Of the rivers, Dharla was flowing 33 cm above the danger mark at Kurigram station and Brahmaputra was flowing 48 cm above the danger mark at Chilmari station.
Our Kurigram correspondent reported that floodwater submerged more than 150 chars under the district leaving at least 60,000 people marooned and erosion of Dharla, Teesta, Brahmaputra, Dudkumer, Phulkumer, Zinzeram,Gangadhor and Sonavory rivers continued to take a toll at many points.
Deputy Commissioner of Kurigram Khan Md Nurul Amin said that they had already allocated necessary relief material for nine upazilas so that no one would have to suffer from any crisis of food and other necessary items.
Our Bogra correspondent reported that Jamuna was flowing five cm above the danger mark at Sariakandi of Bogra district on Friday, flooding at least eight villages.
The flood affected people were found taking shelter on the embankment of Jamuna on Friday.
A 2013 study by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit at the University of Dhaka and the UK-based Sussex Centre for Migration Research estimated that riverbank erosion displaces 50,000 to 200,000 people in Bangladesh every year.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net