IRIN
BANGLADESH: Hundreds of thousands stranded by floods
25 August 2009


DHAKA, 25 August 2009 (IRIN) - Heavy monsoon rains, which arrived much 
later than normal this year, have stranded hundreds of thousands in 
southeastern Bangladesh and threatened livelihoods, say local officials.

According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), there are 
nine places where river levels are 3-125cm above the danger level. If 
current rainfall persists - as the FFWC thinks it will - by the end of 
August over 30 percent of the country could be inundated, the forecast 
warns.

The FFWC blames the flooding on unusually heavy rainfall combined with 
drift water flooding in from the Assam and Meghalaya regions of India.

Kurigram, Rajbari, Sirajganj and Rangpur districts in Rajshahi Division, 
and Rajbari in Dhaka Division are the worst affected. Bangladesh has six 
divisions.

In Kurigram District, over 200,000 people in seven sub-districts were 
left stranded by floodwaters, with over 30,000 hectares of crops 
inundated and presumed lost.

"It's been 10 days since we were stranded by the flood and there is no 
sign that the water will recede soon. It seems that no one is concerned 
about our plight," Lalchad Khan, a 65-year-old resident of Ulipur 
sub-district in Kurigram, complained.

Relief efforts under way

But according to government officials, relief efforts are under way. "We 
have already opened up a flood relief centre in the district. To provide 
emergency relief support, we have requested the government for 50 metric 
tonnes of rice and five million taka (US$74,000)," Mohammad Asaduzzaman, 
district commissioner of Kurigram, told IRIN.

In addition, 2,200 Vulnerable Groups Feeding (VGF) cards were being 
provided to each of Kurigram District's 72 unions (sub-locations).

Each family provided with the card receives 20kg of rice. VGF cards are 
issued by the government in times of crisis to ensure food delivery to 
those most severely affected.

More than 30 villages in Sirajganj District were inundated and thousands 
of people made homeless by the flooding. Many were forced to seek 
shelter on flood embankments. A seven-year old boy drowned in the 
district's Natuapara union, according to local media.

Another 25,000 people in Kaunia sub-district of Rangpur District were 
marooned when the River Tista burst its banks and washed over the 
embankments.

The sub-district executive officer of Kaunia, Mohammad Anwar Hossain, 
told IRIN relief goods had already been delivered by the ministry and 
would be distributed among union council chairmen.

Farmers are not the only ones affected: More than 50,000 quarry workers 
in Jaintyapur sub-district of Sylhet were left without the means to 
support their families after heavy rains flooded the area's quarries.

Flooding is a recurring occurrence in low-lying Bangladesh, with monsoon 
flooding an annual occurrence. On average, every seventh year a severe 
flood hits the country, say experts.

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