Roads cut in places to help floodwaters recede 

The government is now cutting roads in places to help the flow of floodwaters to recede, where millions of people in the country's northeast have been marooned over the last couple of days.

"We have already cut some roads and asked local authorities to continue doing that if needed to help the floodwaters to recede," Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam said in a press conference at the Secretariat in the capital on Sunday.

He noted they have formed a committee led by a joint secretary to oversee the flood situation.

With water flowing in from upstream and heavy rainfall, flood conditions in Sylhet division have deteriorated dramatically over the past two or three days. It is feared many other northern districts will also be hit soon. 

"We have no control over natural disasters but we must face them. Our prime minister has directed us to monitor conditions round the clock and take steps accordingly," Tazul Islam said, adding that now the Bangladesh Army, Navy, Coastguard, Police, and local authorities are working in flood-hit areas to help people affected and give them relief. 

He said the government sent 10 lakh water purifying tablets and other relief items to each of the flood-affected districts. "We are also at the ready to provide mobile toilets to affected areas."

On possible floods in other parts of the country including Dhaka city, the minister said they have contingency preparedness to minimise the casualties of such a disaster. "We have handed over Dhaka canals to the city corporations so they can work to reduce waterlogging in the city."

Mentioning that Dhaka South City Corporation has already taken back 6.5 acres from land grabbers and Dhaka North City Corporation 25 acres, the minister said some canals have successfully recovered. "We have allocated TK4,000 crore to reduce waterlogging in Dhaka South City Corporation that sees the problem most."

On dengue, Tazul Islam said the country now has 730 dengue patients but no deaths have been reported yet. "We have ensured taking all preventive measures to fight against dengue."