Flood unlikely this year

Despite higher than average rainfall since the beginning of the current monsoon season, the country is likely to escape major flooding this year, meteorologists said yesterday. Weather experts at the meteorological department said they did not foresee heavy rainfalls posing a problem in the coming months.

"Analysing the meteorological data, we can say that there is very little possibility for a major flooding this summer," Arjumand Habib said.

The flood-prone country was severely affected by major flooding last year, which left 1.3 crore people marooned and more than 1,000 people dead.

Summer floods are common in Banglaesh as monsoon rains sweep the Indian subcontinent from June to September which, combined with Himalayan snow melting, feeds major rivers that run to the Bay of Bengal.

Last year's floods submerged more than 40 per cent of the country's landmass, damaging rice crops across a widespread area, which later contributed to a food crisis.

Arjumand Habib said heavier rainfall would result in better crops this year, helping farmers and easing the risk of a food crisis.

The government has targeted a record harvest of more than 1.3 crore metric tonnes of rice during the rainy season, up at least 30 per cent from last year.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) is also optimistic that flooding will not pose a problem this year.

"We have 50 years of monsoon rains data. So far the monsoon is behaving most satisfactorily," said Saiful Hossain, chief analyst of FFWC.