Updakhali flows above danger level as rivers continue to rise in Netrokona

The Dhanu and Mogra rivers are also rising, while the Kangsha and Someshwari recede

Water levels in the Updakhali, Dhanu and Mogra rivers have continued to rise in Netrokona amid persistent rain and heavy upstream runoff.

The Kangsha and Someshwari rivers, however, have started to recede.

On Monday, Executive Engineer Shakhawat Hossain of the Bangladesh Water Development Board's Netrokona office said the Updakhali River had risen by 1cm every three hours between 6pm on Sunday and 6am on Monday.

The river is now flowing 8cm above the danger level, he added.

Sakhawat said the Updakhali River had earlier been flowing 4cm above the danger level on Sunday evening.

The Dhanu and Mogra rivers are also rising but remained below the danger level, while the Kangsha and Someshwari rivers had receded to flow below their danger marks as well.

Kalmakanda Upazila administrator (UNO) SM Mikhail Islam said the Updakhali's water levels were rising due to a combination of rainfall and hilly runoff from upstream, though floodwater had not yet entered residential areas.

He said preparations were already under way to tackle any potential flood situation. "We remain on alert.”

Netrokona district recorded 12mm of rainfall in the 24 hours to 8am on Monday, said Aminul Islam, deputy director of the district Department of Agricultural Extension.

According to him, persistent rain has left farmers struggling to prepare seedbeds for Aman paddy, as waterlogged fields have delayed sowing.

He said farmers were preparing 6,735 hectares of seedbed to meet the district's Aman cultivation target of 135,000 hectares.

Seeds had been sown on 3,446 hectares so far, but rain was preventing sowing on the remaining land.