Shawdesh Desk:

Many of the protection embankments that withstood swelling rivers for more than two weeks began to give in as onrush of water from upstream resumed with renewed strength amid heavy rains.

At least five dozens of villages in Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Kurigram and Gaibandha went under floodwater between Wednesday and Thursday after embankments protecting them collapsed.

The water pressure in the major rivers, already flowing above their danger levels or just below it, increased all of a sudden Wednesday morning after India released huge volumes of water toward Bangladesh following heavy rains there.

‘The onrush of water from across the border continued and chances are that it would remain the same for some time,’ Water Development Board’s sub-divisional engineer Hafizur Rahman told the New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat.

The River Teesta was flowing 15 cm above the danger level. This is the second time in less than a month the Teesta crossed its danger level.

It crossed the danger mark first on July 9 and set a new water level record on July 13.

At least 65,000 families, many of whom had returned home three to four days ago after spending more than a week in flood shelters, have been marooned afresh by the new flooding in Lalmonirhat between Wednesday and Thursday.

‘Almost my entire union is under water,’ said Kamal Hossain, chairman, Dahogram Angorpota union parishad.

At least 10 villages in four upazilas in the northern district have been inundated by flood waters since Thursday morning.

Flood waters engulfed at least five villages in Gangachara upazila in Rangpur district after washing away Shankardaha flood protection embankment Thursday morning, reported the New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat.

A total of 15 other villages in Kaunia and Pirgachha upazilas in Rangpur have also got submerged by flood waters since Thursday morning.

The New Age correspondent in Mymensingh reported that at least 15 villages in Sadar upazila were completely submerged by flood waters as of Wednesday evening after the embankment to protect Mymesingh city from floods was breached.

Initially the breach seemed a tiny crack measuring only three metres but it rapidly grew to turn into a 70-metre wide gap through which gushing flood waters spread across villages and croplands.

The Tarakanda and Fulpur upazilas in the district are likely to get flooded soon if water continued to enter through the breach throughout Thursday.

Mymensingh Sadar upazila parishad Chairman Ashraful Islam said that it was unfortunate that the protection embankment finally fell.

He promised to stand by the marooned villagers.

The Water Development Board’s executive engineer Zahirul Islam said that there was so much water pressure that they could not do anything about closing the breach at the moment.

The New Age correspondent in Kurigram reported that the fresh spell of flood once again engulfed areas that had just come out of water after almost two weeks.

Kurigram is one of the worst hit districts where about a million people were marooned by floods.

Abdul Hakim, a resident of Sabujpara in Dhopdanga union, spent 10 days in waist-deep water and was happy to see water beginning to recede finally on July 20.

But Thursday morning he found to his frustration the road in front of his house submerged again, in knee-deep water, and the water was rising fast.

‘People started again to stream back onto embankments for shelter,’ said Hakim.

People in Kurigram feared prolonged and extensive flooding in the district for the second time as the Brahmaputra was already full to the brim with continued onrush of water from the upstream.

The Water Development Board in its Thursday morning bulletin said that flooding in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogura, Tangail, Sirajganj and Manikganj might deteriorate by Friday morning.

The Left Democratic Alliance distributed relief among flood victims in Gaibandha amid reports of food and drinking water crises taking toll on the flood victims.

The flood situation in Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat would remain unchanged over the same period, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

The Brahmaputra, Padma, Dharla and Teesta might continue to rise until Friday morning because of heavy rains inside Bangladesh and in the upstream in India, the FFWC said.

The rivers in the north-western region might also swell rapidly by Friday morning, said the FFWC.

According to the FFWC, 11 rivers were flowing above their danger levels at 18 points at 9:00am Wednesday morning.

The FFWC recorded country’s highest rainfall of 128 mm in 24 hours until 9:00am that day at Teknaf.

The Water Development Board in a special flood outlook released Thursday afternoon said that flooding might worsen at places.

Rivers flowing in the north-eastern region may stay above their danger marks for some time as monsoon is active over northern Bangladesh and India’s Assam and West Bengal, said the outlook.

‘Some of the rivers might continue to flood some areas throughout July,’ said WDB executive engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuyan.

The Met Office predicted light to moderate rains across six divisions in the country and heavy to very heavy rains at places over Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions until Friday morning.

The Met Office also issued a heavy rainfall warning Thursday afternoon and said that landslide might occur at places over the hilly region of Chattogram division until 4:30pm Friday.

The Indian Met Office predicted widespread or fairly widespread rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya and West Bengal and Sikkim regions until Monday.

The disaster management and relief ministry estimates showed that floods marooned nearly four million people in 28 districts. Flood waters receded from 11 of the districts.

The Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room said that three people drowned in 24 hours until Thursday morning in Gaibandha and Jamalpur taking the death toll due to floods to 94 since July 10.

Besides the official figure, seven more drowning were reported in Lalmonirhat and Jamalpur Thursday.