FENI, Bangladesh - On Saturday (Aug 24), around 300,000 people in Bangladesh sought refuge in emergency shelters due to widespread flooding that has submerged vast areas of the low-lying nation, as reported by disaster management officials.
Triggered by intense monsoon rains, the floods have resulted in at least 42 fatalities across Bangladesh and India since the beginning of the week, with many deaths occurring in landslides.
"My home is completely submerged," said Lufton Nahar, 60, speaking from a relief shelter in Feni, one of the districts hardest hit, located near the border with India's Tripura state. "Water is flowing above our roof. My brother brought us here by boat. Without him, we would have perished."
Bangladesh, a country of 170 million people, is interwoven with hundreds of rivers and has experienced frequent flooding in recent decades.
Each year, monsoon rains cause significant damage, but climate change is altering weather patterns, leading to more frequent and severe weather events.
The flooding has damaged highways and rail lines between Dhaka, the capital, and the main port city of Chittagong, complicating access to severely affected districts and disrupting business operations.
This disaster comes just weeks after a student-led uprising led to the ousting of Bangladesh's government.
One of the most severely impacted regions is Cox's Bazar, which is home to approximately one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
Sarat Kumad Das, an official with Tripura state's disaster agency, informed AFP that 24 people have died on the Indian side of the border since Monday. In Bangladesh, the disaster management ministry's secretary, Md Kamrul Hasan, reported 18 deaths.
He also stated that a total of 285,000 people are currently living in emergency shelters, with 4.5 million people affected overall.
REBUILDING AFTER UNREST
At the time the floods struck, Bangladesh was in the midst of recovering from weeks of civil unrest, which culminated in the overthrow of the autocratic former leader Sheikh Hasina on Aug 5.
With an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus still settling in, ordinary citizens have been crowdfunding to support relief efforts. The same students who led the protests that resulted in Hasina's ouster are now organizing these efforts. Hasina has remained in India after fleeing Dhaka.
On Friday, crowds gathered at Dhaka University to make cash donations, as students loaded vehicles with sacks of rice and crates of bottled water destined for flood-affected areas.
Bangladesh is largely composed of deltas formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers as they flow toward the sea after traversing India.
Several tributaries of these major rivers remain above flood levels, although forecasts predict a reduction in rainfall in the coming days.
ACCUSATIONS OF MAN-MADE FLOODING
India was a major supporter of Hasina's 15-year rule, and many Bangladeshis have criticized their larger neighbor for backing her regime.
Asif Mahmud, a leader of the student protests now serving in Yunus' caretaker Cabinet, accused India on Wednesday of "creating a flood" by intentionally releasing water from dams.
Hundreds gathered at Dhaka University on Friday to protest against what they called India's "water aggression," displaying a banner depicting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemingly enjoying the sight of people drowning.
India's foreign ministry has denied these allegations, stating that the country experienced the "heaviest rains of this year" in its own catchment area this week, leading to "automatic releases" of water downstream.
In India's Tripura state, the flood impact remains severe, with approximately 65,000 people seeking shelter in 450 relief camps, according to local media reports.
