Major rivers cross danger level at 11 more points

Major rivers overnight crossed danger marks in 11 more points across the country as all the four of the country’s major basins continued to rise, largely due to incessant downpours, reports BSS quoting officials.

“Water levels in all the four basins are rising but of them rivers in Meghna and Brahmaputra basins particularly in the Teesta sub-basin are swelling in a faster pace,” Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) spokesperson said Saturday.

The two basins cover the northern, northeastern and parts of the central Bangladesh, crisscrossed by 54 major rivers mostly originating from upstream regions in India, Nepal and China.

FFWC spokesperson Pritom Kumar Sarkar said out of some 90 points across the country, water levels in 23 points exceeded the danger marks overnight while the figure was 12 late yesterday.

He added that fortunately the rise in the Ganges basin appeared slower while rise in the rivers in the South Eastern Hill basin, particularly in Bandarban, was slowing down, on the other hand.

The FFWC official said the Teesta River was swelling fast due to heavy downpour in the upstream Indian region while the Sangu River in Bandarban was receding as the downpour in the upper riparian of Indian region stopped for the time being.

The met office, meanwhile, said active monsoon was likely to trigger further “heavy (44-88 mm) to very heavy (>89 mm) rainfall” over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Chattogram divisions during next 24 hours commencing 10:00am today (Saturday).

It also has forecasted heavy downpour to cause landslide in the southeastern hill region.

Hydrologists said generally 50 mm or above rainfall in one day cause stress on local drainage system leading to localised flood while 300 mm or more rainfall in 10 consecutive days impedes the drainage and cause rain-fed floods.