TDS Desk:

As many as 80 schools located at four upazilas of the district have been closed due to flood caused by incessant rain and hilly waters from the upstream of India.

Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) office sources said with the rise of water level in the Brahmaputra the river was flowing over 87cm above the danger level at Fulchhari Ghat point of the district on Friday morning at 9am, reports BSS.

As a result, the chars located at eastern side of the mighty river and river basins at western side under four Sundarganj, Sadar, Fulchhari and Saghata upazilas here have been flooded creating untold sufferings.

Subsequently, a total of 28, 928 families of the upazilas have also been marooned.

Many affected families had taken shelter on the flood control embankment with their belongings including domestic animals.

The schools which are located in the chars under 24 unions of the upazilas went under waist deep water.

The schools which are located in the river basin areas are surrounded by flood water. Flood water also entered the school ground and the classrooms.

At this moment, there is no environment to conduct academic activities for the students.

Taking the matter to cognisance, the concerned authority declared the closure of 80 schools of the district.

Of them 70 are Primary schools and the rest 10 are secondary schools. District Education Officer Roksana Begum and District Primary Education Officer Md Shahidul Islam confirmed it.

They also suspected that the number of the closed schools might increase more because the district administration has prepared 181 schools as permanent and temporary flood shelter centres though no flood victim has taken shelter in the centres till filing of this report at 4pm.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kazi Nahid Rasul said all kinds of preparations have been taken by the district and upazila administrations to deal with the flood situation properly.

Dry food and rice are being distributed to the flood affected people of the upazilas at the initiative of the administration to mitigate the sufferings caused by flood, she concluded.