YET another flash flood has left thousands stranded in coastal regions, worsening the already fragile disaster-prone areas. Reports show that large swathes of Feni, Cumilla, Shariatpur, Chattogram, Barishal, Khulna and Noakhali grapple with flash floods and widespread inundation. In many areas, residents live without access to safe drinking water. The flood has also affected livestock as grazing fields have been submerged. At least three people have so died by the flooding. The situation has been exacerbated where embankments failed under pressure of rapidly swelling rivers, allowing torrents of water to submerge villages, cropland and critical public infrastructure such as hospitals and schools. In Feni, one of the hardest-hit areas, at least 17 embankments breached by swelling rivers. Most rivers in the district are flowing above danger levels, with the Muhuri flowing 584 centimetres above the danger mark.
It is estimated that 30,000 people in Feni have been stranded while many others have sought shelter in temporary flood centres and on embankments. Local communication remains disrupted in many areas, including the Feni鈥揚arshuram road, cut off since the night of July 8. Parshuram and Fulgazi have also been without electricity and off mobile network. In flood-affected areas, authorities have suspended all classes and examinations. In addition to damaging homes and infrastructure, the floods have inundated scores of fish enclosures, ponds and cropland in Chattogram, Khulna, Noakhali, Barishal, Shariatpur and Cumilla, pushing many low-income families into further distress. Torrential rains have heightened the risk of landslides in the hilly areas of the Chattogram division, raising further concern for at-risk people. Although the Meteorological Department forecasts an improvement in weather conditions beginning today, as the active monsoon and low-pressure system over West Bengal that triggered the flash floods begin to subside, it has also warned that rainfall could intensify again across beginning on July 12. This brief window of relief, therefore, should not lead to complacency. Instead, it should prompt urgent preparedness and early relief efforts for people and livestock affected and still at risk.
The authorities should now strengthen their relief operation, addressing the immediate needs of the stranded people by ensuring the supply of food, safe drinking water and medical care. Breached embankments should be urgently repaired and the condition of other vulnerable embankments reassessed to prevent further collapses. In hilly regions, residents at risk of landslide should be promptly evacuated and firm measures should be taken against those involved in illegal hill-cutting and the development of slums on unstable slopes.
