Dhaka likely to experience flood

Half a dozen unions in Dohar and Nawabganj in Dhaka remains under water for three days as the Padma continued spilling banks though it receded slightly in the last 24 hours until 9:00am on Saturday.

Heavy rain over the last two days over Dhaka worsened the situation in the areas giving rise to waterlogging in parts protected by an embankment.

Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre saw no chance of the flood to move further to Dhaka’s interior at the moment but warned that the overall flood situation across Bangladesh would get worse.

Most of the country’s rivers receded in the last 24 hours until Saturday morning but still spilled their banks across 13 districts, overflowing their danger marks at 22 points.

‘Five unions have been flooded in Dohar as they are on the riverside and it is typical of them to go under water more or less during monsoon,’ said Dhaka deputy commissioner Shahidul Islam.

He said that 40 houses were eroded along with parts of river banks that are under repair at the moment.

‘The situation may aggravate if flood worsens in the coming days,’ said Shahidul Islam.

Eastern Dhaka is particularly susceptible to flooding because no embankment is there to protect it from overflowing rivers unlike the case in western Dhaka.

Areas in eastern Dhaka vulnerable to flood include Demra, Badda, Satarkul, Beraid, Dakkhinkhan, Jatrabari and Shanir Akhra.

Parts of a union in Nawabganj are also under water for several days, said Nawabganj upazila nirbahi officer HM Salauddin Manzu.

Parts of Dhaka have been protected with embankment after the great flood of 1988, when vast areas in the capital were overrun by floodwaters for a while.

Dohar upazila nirbahi officer AFM Feroj Mahmud said that 2,000 families were affected by the flood and they were distributing relief among the affected.

‘Many villages are under water and the water seemed to be rising continuously,’ said Moksedur Rahman Khan, a resident of Dohar.

He said that the water rose faster at some places than others and climbed close to the top of Dhaka-Dohar road, threatening to overflow it at places.

‘Many areas would get freshly inundated if water keeps rising,’ he said.

Water Development Board executive engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan said that rivers would start rising again in a day or two because of heavy rains upstream.

‘It is difficult to say at this point if there would be enough water to cause flooding in Dhaka metropolitan area,’ he said.

New Age correspondent in Munshiganj reported that the ferry service between Shimulia and Kathalbari ferry terminals remained suspended since Friday morning because of heavy current in the Padma.

BIWTC assistant general manager at Shimulia said that they were unable to confirm when the ferry service would resume.

Vehicles were seen taking alternative routes after authorities advised them to do so because of the uncertainty over the resumption of the ferry service.

Over 500 vehicles were stranded at Shimulia until Saturday afternoon as many changed their direction to cross the river through alternative Aricha terminal.

New Age correspondent in Kurigram reported that two sisters and a village police drowned in separate incidents in the districts on Saturday.

Fresh areas went out of reach after the Brahmaputra overtook roads and embankments and washed away parts of them in the district.

Gaibandha District relief and rehabilitation officer AKM Idris Ali said that they managed to repair the embankment that was washed away a day before inundating two upazilas.

He said that over 1,31,328 people were affected by the flood.

Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said that flood situation in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogura, Jamalpur, Natore, Sirajganj, Tangail and Manikganj may improve by Sunday.

It however predicted that the flood situation might get worse in Munshiganj, Faridpur, Madaripur, Rajbari and Dhaka during the time.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department predicted light to moderate rain at many places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Barishal, Syleht and Chattogram divisions and in some places in Dhaka, Rajshahi and Khulna.

India Meteorological Department predicted extremely heavy rainfall in West Bengal and Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh between Sunday and Tuesday, deteriorating flooding.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net