Shawdesh Desk: Incessant monsoon rains overnight triggered flooding in several parts of the country swelling waters in three of Bangladesh’s four river basins, marooning thousands of people and disrupting road communications in different areas.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on Friday warned water levels in rivers could rise further while reports suggests erosion of bank lines in some areas including Manikganj worsened further the deluge situation.

‘All the major rivers are in rising trend . . . all the major rivers may (continue to) rise in next 72 hours, the FFWC in its latest bulletin said in Dhaka on Friday.

But the centre predicted a ‘rapid rise’ of the water levels in rivers in northeastern Sylhet region, southwestern greater Chattagram ranging from Feni to Hill Tracts and southwestern Barishal region in the next 24 hours until Saturday.

Disaster management and telief minister Enamur Rahman in a media briefing, meanwhile, said preparedness was underway to handle the situation while a central control room at his office kept a constant contact with officials in the affected areas.

Rahman said gushing waters from upstream region overnight triggered erosion in central Manikganj on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka while efforts was underway to save people and infrastructure there.

He acknowledged that erosion in Manikganj sent a visible signal that the deluge could engulf more areas but added government machineries including the health ministry, armed forces and non-government organisations chalked up coordinated plans to face any situation.

‘The district and upazila administrations by now started distributing food among the victims while supplies of other required materials including medicines are underway,’ a spokesman of the disaster management ministry said.

According to officials and residents, continued rains swelled water level in Bandarban’s Sangu River cutting off the district’s communication lines with rest of the country and affecting as well its internal communication systems.

They said a portion of the Chattogram-Rangamati road near Ghagra’s Kalabagan area collapsed due to the torrential downpour; a landslide and culvert collapse halted communication on the Rangamati-Bandarban road. Swelling waters in the Jamuna River affected thousands in the Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts marooning several thousands and inundating scores of villages and localities.

The Water Development Board opened all 44 sluice gates of the Teesta Barrage to avert flood-related casualties as the rise of the Teesta already flooded nearby regions and waterlogged a few thousand people.

The inflated water in the Surma and several small rivers submerged settlements and roads in areas of Sunamganj bordering India with officials saying the flash flood breached over 10,000 homes in the district.

Nearly 100 primary schools suspended their classes considering the security of the children in view of heavy rainfall and deluge in Sunamganj.

A landslide caused by excessive rainfall collapsed a dam in Jamalpur also flooding several villages there while officials said unless repaired immediately, the gushing waters would submerge more areas there.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department officials, meanwhile, said the shared information they received from their counterparts in the Indian met office suggested that heavy rainfall could lash Bangladesh’s northwestern, north eastern and southeastern parts of Bangladesh and their adjoining regions in India’s Assam and Meghalaya states in next 24 to 48 hours.

‘At places the downpours could be more than heavy,’ a met office spokesman in Dhaka said.