Flood victims cry for relief

The flood-affected people, marooned in several districts for a couple of weeks, are crying for relief as they have been passing their days in utter misery for want of food, drinking water and medicines.

The death toll due to flood-related causes increased to 94 with seven more people dying over the 24 hours till 6:00pm Tuesday, according to the National Heath Emergency Control Room.

However, the flood situation in the country’s north and central districts improved on Tuesday as the major rivers in the regions continued to recede, said officials.

The New Age correspondent in Tangail reported that widow Joygan Bewa , 70, took shelter beside the rail line in Bhuyapur Tepibari as her house at Bhuiyapur Tarakandi went under floodwater.

She has been living a subhuman life as she did not get any relief after she took shelter by the rail track on Thursday.

Like her, Shahar Ali, 60, a van driver, and his family of five are also now going without food beside the rail track in Tepibari.

The small amount of dry food they received from a state minister two days ago was already consumed by them, Shahar said.

Now he and his family were leading a miserable life without food, he grieved.

Nur Hossain, 82, has been living at Chargapsara Dakhil Madrasah under Gapsara upazila for the last 10 days. He said that he also did not get any relief.

At least 50 such flood-hit families took shelter on the Bhuyapur-Tarakandi road and they were leading their life in a miserable condition.

Over one lakh people of six unions of the upazila were marooned in floodwater and many of them took shelter on high roads and places.

Gapsara Union Parishad chairman Moniruzzaman Monir said that two tonnes of rice and 500 dry food were distributed among the poorer people who were affected by floods.

The upazila administration had assured of sending more relief as he sent a list of 10,000 affected people, he said.

UNO Jhotan Chanda said that sufficient relief materials were stored for the marooned people and those would be gradually distributed.

The New Age correspondent in Manikganj said that the flood situation in the district remained unchanged on Tuesday while the river was flowing nine cm above the danger mark at Aricha point.

About 50,000 people in 50 villages in five upazilas of the district were still marooned in floodwater, he reported.

Deputy Commissioner SM Ferdous of the district said that the government had allotted 67 tonnes of rice and Tk 1.9 lakh in cash for the district’s flood-affected people.

Some 4,000 people in Doulatpur upazila complained of not getting any relief.

Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque visited Doulatpur, Harirampur and Shibalay upazilas and distributed relief among flood-hit people.

Nearly four million people have been marooned in 27 districts of the country since the first week of July.

According to the National Health Emergency Operation Control Room, the death toll increased to 94 in  the 24 hours since 9:00am Monday.

Seven people drowned over the period, said control room officials.

Meanwhile, all the major rivers of the country were falling except the Surma and Kushiyara rivers, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

 According to both Bangladesh and India Met Offices, there is a chance of heavy to very heavy rainfall in the northern region of Bangladesh and the adjoining Assam and northern part of West Bengal in India.

The Jamuna, Ganges and Padma rivers may continue falling while the Surma and Kushiyara rivers may continue rising in the 24 hours till 9:00am Wednesday, according to the FFWC.

On the other hand, the Brahmaputra river may remain steady over the period.

The Teesta and Dharla rivers may rise rapidly over the 48 hours since 9:00am Tuesday.

The FFWC forecast that the flood situation in Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogura, Tangail, Sirajganj,

Manikganj, Rajbari, Faridpur and Munshiganj districts may improve over the 24 hours since 9:00am Tuesday

On Sunday, extremely heavy rains in West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya in the upstream gave rise to the fear of fresh floods in Bangladesh.

Till Sunday, floods continued to wreak havoc in riverine Bangladesh for the third consecutive

week as rain waters accumulated in the upstream from heavy rains in the first week of July drained to the sea.

Satellite images showed that many areas in Assam and Tripura were still under flood waters waiting to be drained through the rivers in Bangladesh.  

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net