Thousands of people in the country’s flood-hit districts have been facing acute scarcity of dry food and drinking water, intensifying their sufferings, affected residents have said.

“I didn’t get any relief. No one in my village has received any relief items either. We are now facing an acute crisis of dry food and drinking water,” flood-affected Mukhtar Hossain told Prothom Alo over phone from Gaibandha.

Hossain is a resident of Dakatiar Char in Fulchhari upazila of the district.

Crops, including Aman rice and jute, have been damaged by the floods, he said.

“Floodwater in our district has started to recede but our sufferings continue,” Mukhtar Hossain lamented.

Prothom Alo correspondent in Gaibandha said the flood affected people could not return home.

The people are facing a crisis of dry food and drinking water, the correspondent said, adding only a small number of people have received relief items.

Gaibandha deputy commissioner Abdul Matin, however, said the district administration has been supplying relief and drinking water.

Zahidul Islam, a resident of Nageswari upazila in Kurigram, said, “We have been suffering as we can’t go to buy daily necessities.”

“We are devastated. We have been in a boat for eight days. Nobody came to us with relief,” Zahidul Islam told this correspondent over phone.

Prothom Alo correspondent in Kurigram, Shafi Khan, said the overall flood situation is unchanged. People have been suffering from the lack of basic essentials.

According to the National Disaster Response Coordination Centre (NDRCC) of the disaster management and relief ministry, a total of 21 out of 64 districts have been affected by floods.

The districts mostly hit by the floods are Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogura, Lalmonirhat, Chattogram, Sunamganj and Sylhet.

In Kurigram, Brahmaputra river was flowing 187 cm above the danger level in Chilmari.

A total of 4,996 people were completely affected by the floods and 795,920 partially affected.

A total of 19,638 hectares of farm land were damaged in the district while 1,249 families were affected by the floods.

Seven upazilas of Gaibandha were affected by the floods as Jamuna river was flowing 129 cm above the danger level in Fulchhari upazila. A total of 4,85,328 people were affected in the district.

Some 6,312 houses were damaged fully while 38,480 houses were partially damaged. Crops on 10,833 hectares of land were damaged. Eight educational institutions were damaged fully while 339 institutions partially.

In Lalmonirhat, 28,624 families in 27 unions have been affected.

A total of 397,093 people have been affected in Sylhet. Kushiara river was flowing 35 cm above the danger level at Sherpur point.

As many as 153,785 people of 11 upazilas of Sunamganj have been affected by floods.

According to the disaster management and relief ministry, the flood situation in several districts including Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati has improved.