In the 12 years that he has been the priest of a small temple by the mighty Brahmaputra, Ranajit Mandal had never witnessed the river’s fury like this. Not only the temple, but the 50 homes in his native Murkata village were washed away in a matter of days. “I feel like the earth has given way under my feet now. I have been the temple’s priest ever since it was built, I feel really lost now,” Mandal said. Read more: COP27 climate talks begin as world grapples with multiple crises

The bodies of three people, who went missing after a boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river two days ago, were fished out on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Shamim Mia, 30, son of Kitab Ali of Tarpasha village, Md Sifat, 16, son of Abdus Samad, and Yeasin, 7, son of Monir Hossain of Mymensingh district. Asaduzzaman Titu, inspector at Hossainpur police station, said local people spotted the bodies of the trio floating in the river under the Dane bridge at 6am and informed cops. Later, drivers from the local fire service recovered the bodies of the trio. The trio met the watery grave while going to Kishoreganj to see the historical boat race on September 19.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at different points in Kurigram and Gaibandha districts, inundating different low-lying and char areas Monday morning. The Brahmaputra was flowing 51 cm above the danger level at Chilmari point of Kurigram and 4 cm above the danger level in Gaibandha town in the morning, said Water Development Board. Also read: Lakhs marooned in 3 districts as rivers flow above danger mark Besides, the Dharla River at the bridge point in Kurigram was flowing at 44 cm above the danger level. In Kurigram, about 2,50,000 people of more than 200 chars in 49 unions have been marooned. Rowmari upazila is the worst-hit area as one lakh people have been stranded there in floodwater.

The overall flood situation in parts of the country may worsen further as the water levels in the Jamuna and Brahmaputra Rivers keep rising, said the Flood Forecasting Warning Centre (FFWC) of Bangladesh Water Development Board. According to a FFWC bulletin released on Friday, the situation is likely to worsen further in Kurigram, Tangail, Sirajganj, Pabna, Manikganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Shariatpur and Chandpur districts. READ: Flood in Kurigram getting worse Besides, the Jamuna River is expected to flow above its danger level at Bahadurabad, Phulchhari and Mathura points, the bulletin said.

Although flood situation has improved in Kurigram and 16 rivers including Brahmaputra, Dharla and Teesta are flowing below the danger mark in the last few days, river erosion has taken a serious turn in the district.   Sardob, Mogholbasa and Nunkhawa flood control embankments were damaged due to erosion by the Brahmaputra, Teesta and Dharla rivers in the last few days.

The flood condition in Sherpur deteriorated as the water level of Brahmaputra River continued to rise on Friday.

Fifty more char villages were inundated in Kurigram district on Tuesday as flood situation worsened following ries of water levels in Dharala and Brahmaputra rivers .   Dharla and Brahmaputra rivers are flowing  61cm and 71cm above the danger level at Bridge point and Chilmari point respectively on Tuesday morning.   Over two lakh people in 55 unions and 357 villages in the district were affected by flood.   Meanwhile, 30 kilometer long flood control embankments and 37 kilometer muddy road were damaged by flood in the district.

Kurigram, Aug 31 (UNB) – Over 100 homesteads at Hatiya union in Ulipur upazila have gone into the gorge of the Brahmaputra River in a week as the riverbank erosion has taken a serious turn with the recession of floodwater.   Around 9.5 lakh people who live in the vicinities of 16 rivers, including the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar, suffered much due to flood for the last 20 days. Now they are passing days in worries due to the severe riverbank erosion.   The flood protection embankment, union parisahd building, six educational institutions, three mosques, one community clinic and one cyclone centre also stand threatened due to the worsening erosion.   No necessary measure has yet been taken by the Water Development Board to check the bank erosion, locals alleged.   During a recent visit to the union, the UNB correspondent found that the affected people along with their domestic animals and belongings were taking shelter in nearby villages.   Two-thirds of the union have been washed away by the Brahmaputra over the last three to four years.