Indian Teesta gate opening causes flood in Bangladesh

Millions of Bangladeshis have been marooned for couple of months due to flash flood as India opened all gates of Gajoldoba Teesta Bbarrage simultaneously.

The strong current of water from upstream causes erosion to Bangladeshi rivers, sources confirmed to the Mirror Asia. The floods in parts of Bangladesh's northeastern Sylhet region due to the onrush of upstream waters coupled with heavy downpours have affected millions of people and displaced tens of thousands.

There is heavy rain in the northern districts of India including Jalpaiguri and Sikkim. Due to this, the water of all the rivers of Kurigram including Teesta, Dudhkumar, Jaldhaka has increased. The water level is increasing rapidly in Gajoldoba Teesta Barrage as well.

Indian Irrigation Department has issued a red alert on both sides of the Teesta. Sudden heavy rains have increased water level of Indian rivers like Teesta, Jaldhaka, Torsa, Neora which affected the northern districts of Bangladesh. The water in the northern districts of Bangladesh has already started to rise.

Indian Meteorological Department has issued a warning that heavy rains will continue across North-East India throughout this week. The water from mountains have formed a strong current which also caused erosion in Teesta and Dudhkumar rivers.

Kurigram Deputy Commissioner Rezaul Karim said that around 2 thousand people on bank of Teesta have already been marooned due to Indian rainwater. “The amount of damage will increase with time. We have taken preparations to deal with flood situations. Cyclone-shelters and relief materials have been kept ready,” Rezaul Karim told The Mirror Asia. He termed the Teesta erosion prevention as the main challenge.

“We have repaired the embankments. In some places they are broken again. Repair work is going on somewhere. Floods occurred in Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur and Gaibandha which closed to Teesta due to heavy rains along with the hill runoff coming down from upstream,” he added.

People in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts in the north-eastern part of the country have been affected by floods again due to heavy rains and hill slopes coming down from India, sources informed The Mirror Asia. Surma and Kushiara rivers suffered from erosion.

Sylhet’s Assistant Meteorologist Shah Md Sajib Hossain said that 14 mm of rainfall from 6 am to 6 pm on Tuesday, with heavy rain expected to continue until Wednesday. 

Water Development Board in Sylhet has informed that due to heavy rains, the water has exceeded the limit at 4 points in the rivers of Sylhet. Surma river water is flowing 102 cm above water level at Kanighat point and Sari river water is flowing 35 centimeter above water level at Jaintapur.

Extensive flooding has stranded about 1.8 million people in northeast Bangladesh, following weeks of heavy rains that have submerged homes and devastated farmland, reports CNN. The widespread flooding was triggered by prolonged torrential rain and water runoff from the hilly regions upstream on the border with India, which caused four rivers to swell beyond their danger marks last week

Kanaighat, Jaintapur and Goainghat upazilas of Sylhet have again been affected by floods due to heavy rains and landslides. Houses, markets and shops have been flooded in these areas. Apart from this, the suburbs of the metropolis were once again flooded.

More than 700 thousand people are still marooned due to the second phase of flood. The flood situation may deteriorate in the next four days as meteorologists are predicting more rains. The third round of flood hit Sylhet on July 1 before the end of the second flood. There is a risk of heavy rain in Sylhet and upstream for the next couple of days, according to meteorologist.