Flooding has affected large parts of India and Bangladesh, stranding hundreds of thousands of people in northeastern India and the eastern region of neighboring Bangladesh. As per recent reports, the death toll in Bangladesh has risen to 13, as the country continues to recover from weeks of political unrest. Approximately 4.5 million people have been impacted by the flooding in eastern Bangladesh, according to the country’s Disaster Management Ministry.
In the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, soldiers were seen in rescue boats transporting people to safety following heavy rainfall that resulted in flooding and landslides. Authorities report that more than 65,000 individuals have been forced to evacuate their homes, with at least 23 fatalities recorded. Television footage showed military personnel operating the rescue boats as cars and buses became stranded in knee-deep water. Disaster management authorities have established 450 relief camps in Tripura, affecting around 1.7 million people, leaving infrastructure, crops, and livestock severely damaged.
The heavy rains and rising water levels upstream from Tripura have also devastated many areas in eastern Bangladesh. Many residents in the hardest-hit districts, including Cumilla, Feni, and Noakhali, have called for rescue as power supplies were disrupted and road connections were severed. Travel and communication links between the capital city Dhaka and the southeastern port city of Chittagong have been cut off due to sections of a major highway being submerged.
Although monsoon rains in South Asia cause significant destruction every year, climate change is altering weather patterns and increasing the frequency of extreme weather phenomena. “It is a catastrophic situation here,” said volunteer rescuer Zahed Hossain Bhuiya, 35, to AFP in Feni. “We are trying to rescue as many people as possible.” Nur Islam, a shopkeeper in Feni, noted that his home had been completely inundated. “Everything is underwater,” said the 60-year-old man.
Bangladesh’s Disaster Management Ministry confirmed that the latest death toll of 13 includes fatalities in cities along the country’s southeastern coast, including Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, which is home to about one million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar. Nearly 190,000 others have been evacuated to emergency shelters.
While both countries have been affected by the floods, many people in Bangladesh have accused India of opening a dam in Tripura, which allegedly caused the sudden flooding in Bangladesh. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has denied these claims, stating that the dam is located far from the border and that India has experienced “the heaviest rainfall days of the year” this week, leading to “automatic water discharges.”
The Gomti River, the main river in Tripura, is flowing above its danger level, according to government sources. The Gomti flows through the Cumilla district in Bangladesh before it empties into the Bay of Bengal. India and Bangladesh share 54 transboundary rivers that stretch from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.