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Floods are a recurring phenomenon in Bangladesh. The historical past of floods in Bangladesh is carefully linked with the historical past of the nation. Just lately the Sylhet and Sunamganj area of northeastern Bangladesh is experiencing excessive stage flood. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have been flooded. In keeping with the administration, about 3 million folks have been affected in these two districts. The town of Sunamganj has been minimize off from the remainder of the nation by flood waters.
Because of heavy rains in Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India, 4 toes of water rose in Sunamganj in 12 hours. Cherrapunji recorded 972 mm of rainfall in 24 hours. That is the best file in 122 years. That rain water has come down very quick in Sunamganj and Sylhet area. That’s the reason the flood has taken a horrible type in a short while. Sunamganj metropolis has been submerged in water and has develop into remoted from the entire nation.Energy provide to your entire district has been minimize off resulting from submergence of two energy substations in Sunamganj. The cell community can be not working. The military has been deployed in eight upazilas of Sylhet and Sunamganj to rescue the folks trapped within the flood waters. About 26,000 sq km or 18 pecent of land arear in Bangladesh is flooded yearly.
The definition of flood in Bangladesh is exclusive. In the course of the monsoon season, when rivers, canals, beels, haors and low mendacity areas are flooded and all crops, homes, roads, and property are broken, it’s termed as flood. Within the case of Bangladesh, there’s a hyperlink between flood and crops. Flood in Bangladesh might be divided into three classes: a) Monsoon flood – These floods are seasonal; inflicting the river water to rise slowly and flood huge areas, inflicting intensive injury to life and property;
B) Flash flood – brought on by sudden mountain slopes or short-term heavy rainfall or by breaking pure or man-made dams; And c) Tidal Flood: These short-term floods often have a top of three to six meters and block the drainage system of the land. The hostile results of this rising river stage are felt all around the nation. It’s because it regulates each the state and capability of flood water discharge.
This reduces the circulate of small rivers and the gravitational discharge of floor water is restricted to the floodplains. Because of exit obstruction, excessive ranges of flood are seen in virtually all elements of the nation, besides within the northern and japanese highlands. A flood management dam within the northwestern a part of the nation is defending the floodplains on the best financial institution of the river Teesta and Brahmaputra. The hill catchment exit creates flash flood within the northeastern and southeastern areas. Most elements of the south-central and south-western areas are affected by flood tides, storms, tidal surges and insufficient discharge. The drainage system of the south-western area is principally by the previous tributaries of the Ganges silt. The incidence of shallow flood could be very excessive on this area.
The components chargeable for the prevalence of floods in Bangladesh are: 1) Typically low altitude topography over which main rivers circulate. Rivers have fashioned a densely organized drainage community consisting of their tributaries; 2) Heavy rainfall in upstream areas inside and outside the nation; 3) Melting of snow within the Himalayas and pure migration of glaciers; 4) Filling of river mattress resulting from siltation, occupancy of river financial institution or landslide;
5) Simultaneous rise of water in main rivers and affect of 1 river over one other; 6) human intervention in nature; 7) Gradual ocean circulate of rivers because of reverse motion of tides and wind currents; 8) response to sea floor modifications; 9) Geo-structural disturbances (earthquakes, modifications in river flows and topography); 10) Attainable greenhouse impact and so forth.
The floods of August-September 1988 have been catastrophic. About 82,000 sq km space was broken. Such floods happen as soon as in 50-100 years. Rainfall and the circulate of three main rivers within the nation on the identical time inside three days on the identical time triggered additional flooding. Dhaka was additionally flooded. The flood lasted for 15 to twenty days. In 1998, greater than two-thirds of the nation was flooded for greater than two months. The floods have been brought on by heavy rainfall, the circulate of three main rivers within the nation on the identical time and the backwater impact.
Flood Administration, Flood management and discharge initiatives rely closely on dams, polders and gravity conductors. Over-reliance on structural approaches to flood administration, in addition to different constructions resembling roads, highways and railways hinder the circulate of water. In lots of instances it exacerbated the flood state of affairs within the nation. Regardless of enormous investments in flood management and drainage initiatives, the outcomes will not be passable.
The catastrophic floods of 1987 and 1988 triggered widespread destruction and lack of life. On account of these floods for 2 consecutive years, the federal government repeatedly devised a plan to discover a long-term complete and lasting resolution to the flood drawback. Numerous necessary surveys have been carried out, which resulted within the formulation of a flood prevention plan in 1989. Nonetheless, most of those proposals are centered on the Ganges, though the discharge of the Brahmaputra throughout the flood season is greater than that of the Ganges. At current, Bangladesh is pursuing a method of setting up flood management dams on the charge of 1,30,000 hectares per yr to guard human settlements and crop lands from floods. Its advantages by way of revenue and safety have been effectively highlighted. Though it is environmental impression in the long term has not been correctly assessed.
The Bangladesh Water Improvement Board has constructed numerous dams and dug canals to scale back flood injury and hostile results and to make use of extra water for irrigation. Along with the above structural measures, non-structural measures should be severely thought-about as a substitute technique for flood mitigation and injury discount. Non-structural measures check with social adaptation to flood administration.
These embody: (1) intensifying the flood forecasting and warning course of for the folks lengthy earlier than the floodwaters rise in order that the folks can take shelter in secure locations shortly; (2) Land administration to scale back the overflow of river water. A complete program of afforestation and reforestation needs to be adopted and its correct conservation needs to be accomplished to scale back the flood waters by rising the absorption course of;
Md Arafat Rahman is a Columnist & Asst. Officer, Profession & Skilled Improvement Providers Division, Southeast College.
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