Flooded areas in Bangladesh: food and drinking water scarce

Yesterday four children and a woman drowned and died in flood waters in the Anantapur area of ​​Ulipur upazila in Kurigram.

Meanwhile, thousands of people in flood-affected areas across the country have been suffering from a shortage of food and clean water for the past few days.

In Kurigram, the victims were Runa Begum, 28; Rupa Moni, 8 years old; Hasibul Islam, 8; Sumon, 8, and Ruku Moni, 8.

The officer in charge of the Ulipur police station, Moazzem Hossain, said around 1:30 p.m. that around 20 to 25 women and children were traveling by boat in the area. Suddenly part of the boat started to leak and it sank.

Many managed to survive by swimming on land, but the five could not survive, the CO said.

In the district, more than three lakhs of nine upazilas are currently stranded in flooded areas, while the homes of 1,031 families have been inundated by the floods, according to sources from the district relief and rehabilitation office.

Many affected people only have to eat once a day because the food supply is scarce.

“We took refuge in Guribadh [embankment], on the bank of the Dharla river, for five days. Since then, we’ve only eaten once a day, ”said Mobarak Ali, 66, a flood victim in the village of Char Madhobrum in Sadar’s upazila in Kurigram.

According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC), flooding could worsen in Kurigram, Jamalpur, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj and Tangail today, while

the situation could improve in Lalmonirhat, Netrokona, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Habiganj and Moulvibazar.

Medium to heavy rainfall could occur in the north and northeast of the country, according to the FFWC bulletin.

FFWC officials yesterday monitored the state of rivers at their 93 stations across the country. Of these, 23 had water flowing above danger levels.

In Chattogram, most of the tube wells in the Shovanandadi Union of Patiya upazila have been submerged, creating a serious drinking water crisis for the villagers.

While visiting the area yesterday, our correspondent saw many villagers collecting rainwater, while many others had to travel for miles through water up to their waists or breasts to collect water. drinkable.

“We are confined by water. But we don’t have a drop to drink, ”said Md Lokman, a resident of the union’s Adamalla Para area.

“There is only one tube well left that has not been submerged. It is about two kilometers from our residence. Everyone in our village has to go through waist-deep water to get drinking water, ”said Md Idris, a resident of Yakub Nagar region.

The overflowing Jamuna nearly submerged two houses in Bogura’s upazila Sonatala yesterday. Three upazilas in the district were affected by flooding four days ago. Photo: Collected

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The overflowing Jamuna nearly submerged two houses in Bogura’s upazila Sonatala yesterday. Three upazilas in the district were affected by flooding four days ago. Photo: Collected