Flood kills at least 20 in Northern Bangladesh

Siam Sarower Jamil
Dhaka, Aug 14: 20 people were killed by floodwaters in the northern districts of Bangladesh in the last two days. Disaster management and relief minister of Bangladesh, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya confirmed this information on Monday.
‘A total of 5.86 lakh people of the 20 districts have become flood victims,’ said Maya on overall flood situation at Disaster Management and Relief Bhaban at Mohakhali in Dhaka.
He said that the flood-hit districts are — Sylhet, Sunamganj, Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Bogra, Sirajganj, Netrakona, Khagrachari, Rangamati, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and three others.
The minister said that a total of 358 unions in 368 upazilas have been affected by floods. Already, 973 shelter centres have been opened where 3,68,586 flood victims took shelter.
‘Besides, the ministry cancelled all holidays of its officials and staff to tackle floods,’ he said.
Maya said that the government allotted 13.630 lakh metric tonnes of rice and Tk 3.10 crore for the flood victims in 33 districts till August 14.
Nine more districts might be flooded in the days ahead and the low-lying areas surrounding Dhaka might also go under water, he warned.
‘The government has also allotted 1,200 metric tonnes of rice, Tk 60 lakh and 15,000 packets of dry foods for the flood-hit people,’ said the minister.
He said that 200 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 5 lakh have been distributed as common allotment for every district.
Besides, medical teams formed for every flood-hit district, have been urged to visit shelter centres and provide services to the sufferers.
Maya also called upon the health department to provide water purifying tablets and ensure safe water in the flood-hit areas.
He also ordered to rebuild the flood embankments collapsed by floodwaters.
‘Following the order of prime minister, the overall flood situation is under surveillance by the ministry. Besides, the prime minister is also taking regular updates of flood situation,’ said Maya.
‘We have stocked adequate food, relief items for the flood victims,’ the minister continued.
He also said that the government has already taken adequate measures considering the recent floods in the neighbouring countries – Nepal, Bhutan and India.