Volunteers rescue people on a boat after several districts flooded at Chhagalnaiya in Feni, Bangladesh, August 23, 2024.
© REUTERS/Abdul GoniVolunteers rescue people on a boat after several districts flooded at Chhagalnaiya in Feni, Bangladesh, August 23, 2024.
Floods have wreaked havoc across 11 districts in Bangladesh affecting over 4.8 million people, and resulting in 15 deaths, according to the language daily of the country Prothom Alo.

The disaster management and relief ministry was quoted as saying by the language daily that Cumilla and Chattogram districts saw four deaths each, three died in Cox's Bazar, and one each in Feni, Noakhali, Brahmanbaria, and Lakshmipur districts.

The floods, which began on August 20, has impacted Feni, Cumilla, Khagrachhari, Noakhali, Chattogram, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Sylhet, Lakshmipur, and Cox's Bazar districts.

Road and rail communications between Dhaka and Chattogram have been halted as various sections of the railway lines and highways remain submerged.


Similar scenes were also seen in Feni and Cumilla and Sylhet. Landslides have also led to the destruction of railway lines in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar, while sections of the railway lines on the Dohazari and Nazirhat routes remain submerged.

Relief Efforts

The delta nation government has allocated Tk 35.2 million in cash, 20,150 tonnes of rice, and 15,000 packets of dry food for relief efforts, Prothom Alo reported.

In a press conference at the secretariat, disaster management and relief secretary, Md. Kamrul Hasan, said that 887,629 families have been affected by the flood, while 188,739 people have been moved to relief centers.

According to local media reports, various agencies, including the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, BGB, fire service, police, and the Students Against Discrimination movement, are actively involved in rescue operations in the flood-affected areas.

Bangladeshi non-government organisation BRAC said in a statement that up to 3 million people remained stranded as fast-moving water inundated vast areas of farmland, destroying livelihoods, homes, and crops. It said many remained without electricity, food or water, news agency AP reported.

Several charity groups have issued calls for assistance, while a student group at Dhaka University in the nation's capital is gathering dry food, cash, water, and medicines.

Speaking to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the news agency of Bangladesh, Chattogram railway station manager Mohammad Moniruzzaman stated that the railway authority decided to suspend train services due to the ongoing flood risk. Train services will resume when the situation normalises, he added.

Meanwhile, all bus services on the Dhaka-Chattogram route have been stopped. Bus traffic is continuing only on the Cox's Bazar and Bandarban routes, while services on other routes, including Khagrachari, have been suspended, as per Prothom Alo.