C T Online Desk: The onrush of water from upstream over the past two days worsened the flood situation in the Kushiyara basin, causing the river to swell further.
The onrush of water came on top of the slow draining of the Kushiyara and other major rivers in the north-eastern haor region.
Water Development Board officials said that the swelling of Kushiyara would eventually lead to slow draining of water from north-eastern river systems, for they all merge downstream at Bhairab Bazar before falling into the Meghna River.
Due to the inundation of vast swathes of the north-eastern countryside, more than 63,000 people were still stuck at flood shelters in the Sylhet division.
‘We hope the flood situation in the north-eastern region to improve over the next week,’ said Sarder Udoy Raihan, sub-divisional engineer, Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.
‘All rivers in the haor region may fall below their danger marks by the second week of this month,’ he added.
The Kushiyara swelled as floodwater receded from upstream, he said.
The FFWC’s daily flood bulletin showed that the Kushiyara flowed 79cm above the danger mark at Amalshid after it fell only one cm in the 24 hours reporting period until 9:00 am on Tuesday.
The one cm fall came after the river swelled 21cm on Monday.
The Kushiyara swelled by seven cm at Sheola on Tuesday, flowing 19cm above the danger mark.
The Surma, on the other hand, flowed 32cm at Kanaighat at 9:00 am on Tuesday, after the river fell six cm in the 24 hours reporting period.
The Someswari flowed one cm above the danger mark at Kolmakanda at 9:00 am on Tuesday.
The FFWC warned that water in the Ganges may increase through Wednesday.
Authorities claimed that the electricity supply had been completely restored in the flood-affected Sylhet division by Tuesday.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the division passed days without electricity since floods triggered by extreme rain upstream hit on June 16.
India Meteorological Department forecast reported a significant drop in precipitation upstream until July 9.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department predicted rain at many places in Dhaka, Mymensingh, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions until 6:00pm today.
The divisions of Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna may also witness rain at one or two places during the same time.
A mild heat wave, on the other hand, swept over the Rangpur division and the Rajshahi region with chances of it continuing today, said the BMD forecast.
In the 24 hours until 6:00pm on Tuesday, the country’s highest temperature of 37.5C was recorded at Rajshahi. The country’s highest rainfall of 69mm was recorded at Sandwip during the same time.
