Monsoon floods have wreaked havoc across Bangladesh, claiming at least 13 lives and displacing nearly three million people.
The deluge, triggered by intense rainfall and exacerbated by upstream conditions in India, has posed a significant challenge to the newly installed interim government amidst a period of political transition.
Bangladesh, a deltaic nation crisscrossed by over 200 rivers—including 54 transboundary rivers shared with India—has been inundated following a depression in the Bay of Bengal.
This weather system has caused rivers in two critical basins, the north-eastern Meghna Basin and the south-western Chattogram Hills Basin, to overflow their banks.
The relentless rainfall, combined with the impacts of El Niño and climate change, has led to widespread flooding, affecting large swathes of the country.
According to weather experts, the situation has been compounded by insufficient data from upstream regions in India, which has hampered flood forecasting and management efforts.
A spokesperson from the Disaster Management Ministry stated, “We are closely monitoring the flood situation and relief operations from our control room in Dhaka.”
However, communication with the central Feni district, situated between Dhaka and the port city of Chattogram, has been severely disrupted.
Floodwaters have submerged the district headquarters, and the collapse of the electricity supply system has isolated the area, making it difficult to coordinate rescue efforts.
The Flood Warning and Forecasting Centre (FFWC) reported that key rivers are flowing well above danger levels.
The Khowai River in Habiganj is 199 centimetres above the danger mark, while the Gumti River in eastern Bangladesh is 118 centimetres over the threshold.
The Halda River in Chattogram has also risen by one metre in certain areas.
Despite a brief respite from heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours, the FFWC has faced criticism for its inability to predict the flooding accurately. Officials have attributed this shortfall to a lack of timely information from Indian counterparts.
The situation has been further complicated by the political instability following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government.
The interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, is currently overhauling the bureaucracy, including the dismissal of over 1,800 local government representatives since taking office on August 8. This political upheaval has created additional challenges for flood relief coordination.
Local media reports indicate that the transition period has left local government representatives either absent or preoccupied with political issues, further complicating relief efforts.
The floods have isolated numerous towns and villages, with key highways between Dhaka and Chattogram blocked by rising waters. This has not only stranded hundreds of vehicles but also hampered rescue operations.
In the flood-affected regions, many cities and towns, including Feni, Moulvibazar, and Habiganj, have been submerged. Infrastructure damage has been extensive, with numerous homes destroyed and communication lines disrupted.
“I have never seen or heard of any such flood in Feni district in my life,” said Kazi Golam Manuddin, a 93-year-old lawyer from Feni, who was forced to evacuate his home and seek refuge in a drier area.
Disaster management officials reported that most of the casualties were due to drowning, with additional deaths attributed to electrocution and falling trees.
The rapid onset of the floods has separated families, forcing many to seek refuge on highways or rooftops.
Rescue operations are underway, with firefighters, local residents, Red Crescent volunteers, police, and army troops working together.
Many stranded individuals have been rescued using rubber boats.
Dramatic scenes of survival include a young child standing in chest-deep water and a mother holding her infant on a pile of bricks awaiting rescue.
The flooding has highlighted the vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate-related disasters.
A 2015 World Bank study estimated that 3.5 million people in the country are highly vulnerable to such events due to its geophysical conditions.
The most affected districts, according to the FFWC, include Cumilla in the eastern and central-eastern regions, Feni, Moulvibazar, Habiganj in the north-eastern areas, and Chattogram in the south-eastern region.
In these areas, five major rivers are flowing above critical levels, exacerbating the flood crisis.
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