The floods in the northwestern part of Bangladesh are being caused by heavy rain and not the opening of Farakka barrage, according to Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).
“The Indian part of Farakka barrage has nothing to do with the flood,” said Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, executive engineer of the board’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre on Tuesday (Oct 1).
He said that opening the gates between the months of July to October is regular and there is no risk of flooding due to this.
“There is a fear of flood due to the downpour but it’s temporary. It’ll be stable within a week,” Bhuiyan said.
India opened all 119 gates of the Farakka barrage across River Ganges following floods in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Patna and Malda.
Bhuiyan said that water from the Ganges will pass through Padma and recede through the middle part of the country.
He said that the areas around Rajshahi, Sirajganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Pabna, Munshiganj, Shariatpur , Madaripur, Manikganj and surrounding areas may be flooded, but other areas will remain unaffected.
According to the BWDB Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre water levels have been rising in Rajshahi, Shariatpur and Madaripur since Monday (Sept 30).
They are yet to say how much it’s expected to rise as India doesn’t share it’s water level data with Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, a weather forecast predicts a rise in the water level of all major rivers casing short-term floods.
Bangladesh Meteorological Department Senior Meteorologist Abdul Mannan reiterated that the rain was might cause water levels in the rivers to rise.
Environmental activist Engineer Enamul Hoque dismissed flooding due to Farakka barrage saying that although water levels might rise it will not cause major flooding.