Floods subside in Bangladesh, but 300,000 are still in shelters August 25, 2024

People wade through flood waters outside a temporary shelter in Feni; more than 307,000 people are in shelters and more than 5.2 million have been affected by the floods (Munir UZ ZAMAN)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Floods subside in Bangladesh, but 300,000 are still in shelters

Mohammad MAZED

River waters in Bangladesh are receding after days of deadly floods, but 300,000 people are still in emergency shelters in need of help, disaster officials said on Sunday.

The heavy flooding, which has killed at least 18 people in Bangladesh, has added to the challenges of a new government that took over this month after a student-led revolution.

Rescue teams, including joint forces from the army, air force, and navy, are helping those who have been forced to leave their homes and bringing aid to those who have lost everything, said disaster management minister Faruk-e-Azam.

“The flood situation is improving as the water has started to recede,” Azam told AFP.

More than 307,000 people are in shelters and more than 5.2 million have been affected by the floods, the ministry said.

“We are now working to restore communication in the affected areas so that we can distribute emergency food,” Azam said.

“We are also taking measures so that contagious diseases don't spread.”

Ordinary Bangladeshis are funding the relief efforts through crowdfunding.

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The floods add to the problems of a nation that is still recovering from weeks of political turmoil that culminated in the overthrow of autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India by helicopter.

She was replaced by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who is heading an interim government that faces the monumental task of mapping out democratic reforms ahead of expected new elections.

Roads and railway lines have been damaged between the capital Dhaka and the main port city of Chittagong, hampering access to badly flooded districts and disrupting commercial activity.

Monsoon rains cause widespread destruction every year, but climate change is changing weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events.

The South Asian nation of 170 million inhabitants is crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers and has seen frequent flooding in recent decades.

Much of the country is formed by deltas where the Himalayan rivers, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra, wind their way towards the sea after crossing India.

India is among the countries most vulnerable to disasters and climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.

The worst affected areas include the southeastern regions around Chittagong and Cox's Bazar, where around one million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar live.

Floods across the border, upstream from India, have also left a trail of destruction, with at least 24 people killed in eastern Tripura state since Monday.

The Tripura Disaster Management Authority in India said that the waters were also receding, but that more than 100,000 people were still sheltering in around 500 relief camps.

Many of their homes were inundated by the floods, with a total of 1.7 million people affected, according to the agency.

The floods also fueled anger between Dhaka and New Delhi, with India's Foreign Ministry rejecting accusations that it was to blame for the floods and denying that it had deliberately released water from an upstream dam.

India was one of Hasina's main backers and since then many Bangladeshis have openly criticized their larger and more powerful neighbor for supporting her 15-year rule.

India said that its catchment area had suffered the “heaviest rains this year” this week and that the flow of water downstream was due to “automatic releases”.

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