Flood in North to continue for another week

The flood situation in several northern districts, including Kurigram and Gaibandha, is likely to linger for another week.

"The water level of the Brahmaputra will continue to rise for the next two to three days and after that, it will start declining," said Sarder Udoy Raihan, executive engineer of Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

However, the situation in the Sylhet region has improved slightly as the water level of the Surma is decreasing, he said.

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Under water for three weeks and counting

According to reports of our district correspondents, several lakh people, especially those living in low-lying areas, in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, and Sylhet are marooned in floodwater.

Many schools have been closed in the flood-affected areas.

Several flood victims told The Daily Star that they are in dire need of food and pure drinking water as relief assistance distributed by the government is not enough.

Rezia Begum, 30, of Hatia village in Kurigram's Ulipur upazila, said she and her family members have shelter on a WDB dam as water entered their home on Thursday afternoon.

According to Kurigram district administration and relief and rehabilitation offices, 55 unions out of 72 in the district have been hit by flood, causing suffering to over 1 lakh people.

The flood situation in Gaibandha and Bogura is worsening as the low-lying areas have been flooded for the last four days.

Juwel Mia, district relief and rehabilitation officer said 28,938 families in Gaibandha Sadar, Phulchari, Sundarganj, and Saghata upazilas have been affected.

In the four upazilas, classes have been suspended at 80 primary schools as water entered the institutions, said Shahidul Islam, Gaibandha district primary education officer.

Fifteen secondary schools were closed on Thursday, said Rokshana Begum, district education officer.

Golam Kibria, district relief and rehabilitation officer, said the flood has affected 78,332 people in Sariakandi and Sonatola upazilas of Bogura.

In Sirajganj, more than 100 villages of 34 unions in five upazilas of the district have been flooded.

According to the Water Development Board in Sirajganj, the Jamuna was flowing above the danger level at Sirajganj and Kazipur points at 6:00am yesterday.

In Jamalpur, the situation has worsened due to onrushing water from upstream.

The Jamuna was flowing 93cm above the danger mark at Bahadurabad Ghat point around noon yesterday, according to WDB officials.

Flood has forced the authorities concerned to suspend classes at 50 primary and 17 secondary schools in the affected areas.

Around 42 unions in six upazilas and five municipalities of Jamalpur have been hit by flood, said Alomgir Hossain, district relief and rehabilitation officer.

A good number of people have taken shelter in their relatives' houses, on roads, dykes, and high grounds, he added.

In Sylhet, due to the rise of the water level of the Kushiyara, four dykes in the Zakiganj upazila were breached in the last two days, flooding 87 villages in the upazila.

[Our correspondents in Lalmonirhat, Bogura, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, and Sylhet contributed to this report.]