Rain triggers flood in Rangpur
Situation worsens in Lalmonirhat, Kurigram
A flood-hit family in knee-deep water at Khuniyagachh village in Sadar upazila of Lalmonirhat, inset, a flood victim who took shelter on an embankment at Shulkur Bazar in Panchgachhi union of Kurigram, dries paddy in the sun.Photo: STAR
Heavy rain and onrush of water from the upstream triggered flash flood in Rangpur while thousands became marooned as more areas went under flood water in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts yesterday. More than 50,000 people of Teesta and Jamuneswari river basin area in four upazilas of Rangpur were marooned while several hundred families rendered homeless as low lying areas of the district went under water due to heavy rain and onrush of water from across the border. The affected upazilas are Gangachara, Kaunia, Pirgachha and Mithapukur, reports our correspondent. In Gangachara, 27 char villages were flooded. Twenty thousand people of 6,000 families in the upazila became marooned and hundreds of dwelling houses were damaged in the villages. Most of the houses in the 27 villages have gone under 2-3 feet water. The people are suffering from food and drinking water, victims said. Foysal Hasan, chairman of Laksmitari union said the flood water was rising fast and the Gangachara-Mohipur cross dam may collapse anytime. Over a thousand people of 20 villages under Kaunia upazila were also marooned. In Pirgachha, flash flood hit about 15,000 people of six char areas and 12 villages of Chaola and Tambulpur unions. At least 200 meters of Teesta cross dam at Shibdeb point went into the river in the last couple of days. In Mithapukur, at least 100 families of Ucha village lost their homesteads due to the erosion by River Jamuneswari in the last couple of days. While visiting the area, this correspondent found that erosion took an alarming turn from Khoyerbari to Hachia village of Baluya Masimpur union. To protect the erosion, piling was done last year with wood and bamboo. But the whole thing has been damaged again this year. In Lalmonirhat, around 50,000 people at 50 villages were marooned again in the last two days, reports our correspondent. The water levels of Teesta and Dharla increased suddenly on Friday evening as all the gates at Gojoldoba Barrage in India were kept open, sources at WDB here said. Flood hit Monowar Hossain, 65, of Rajpur village in Sadar upazila said, thousands of people living in Teesta river basin villages were marooned as flash flood hit the areas for the third time on Saturday. Commerce Minister GM Quader MP visited some flood affected areas in Khuniyagachh and Rajpur unions on Saturday. He distributed relief materials, including rice, among 1000 families. Flood situation in Kurigram also deteriorated as all the rivers marked rise. The Dharla, Teesta, Dudhkumar and Brahmaputra were flowing near their respective danger levels yesterday. Erosion also rendered homeless at least 110 families in seven unions under three upazilas in the last couple of days, reports our correspondent. Official sources said, around 2.5 lakh people of over 1.3 lakh families in all nine upazilas have been marooned by the fresh flood. Chairman of Hatia union Md Abul Hossen said, most of about 8,000 people of about 1,900 families in Char Gaburjan, Char Dagerkuti, Char Rumkhana and Char Gujimari villages in the union have been marooned by the second round flash flood.
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