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Floods and landslides across Bangladesh have killed 44 people and displaced over 2 lakh families in a week. Rising rivers and fresh heavy rain warnings have intensified the emergency across several districts.
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Dhaka,UPDATED: Jul 12, 2026 16:54 IST
At least 44 people have died in floods and landslides across Bangladesh in the past week, while rivers continued to flow above danger levels and more than 2.5 lakh families were displaced, officials said on Sunday. The government has deployed army troops along with navy and air force personnel for relief work in seven of the worst-hit districts, as heavy rain and rising water levels worsened the situation.
Overnight rain also disrupted life in Dhaka, with several areas inundated and normal movement affected. The state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said the flood situation could worsen further in parts of the country, with more heavy to very heavy rainfall forecast over several Bangladeshi divisions and adjoining Indian states.
A Disaster Management Ministry spokesperson said, "Since July 5, officially 44 flood related deaths were recorded until Saturday evening. We estimate that some 2,67,000 families have been affected so far." Several deaths were caused by landslides, while most of the others were due to drowning or people being washed away in floods and overflowing rivers, the spokesperson said.
Officials said nearly 44,457 displaced people had taken shelter in more than 1,100 temporary flood shelters, mainly in the northeastern and southeastern regions. "The deluge marooned members of an estimated 2,67,918 families in the affected areas," the official said.
Bangladesh, a lower riparian deltaic country criss-crossed by 1,415 rivers, is divided into four major basins. Officials said the inflow of water from upstream areas, along with heavy monsoon rain until Saturday, pushed up river levels in the northeastern Meghna Basin and the southeastern Hill Basin.
On Sunday, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said larger parts of several northern and northwestern districts in the Brahmaputra Basin were likely to face flooding, while the situation in the northeastern and northwestern regions could deteriorate further. As of Sunday, seven of the 45 river monitoring stations in the greater Meghna and southeastern hill basins reported water levels above the danger mark. The centre said several more stations could cross danger levels, leading to fresh flooding in low-lying areas.
"During the next 24 to 48 hours, heavy to very heavy rainfall is forecast over the (north-eastern) Sylhet, (north-western) Rangpur and (northern) Mymensingh divisions of Bangladesh and the adjoining Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam, and West Bengal," the FFWC said in its 9 am bulletin on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, seven Rohingya children and one teacher were killed on July 8 in what was described as the worst single landslide incident of the year in the world's largest refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.
Since Friday, the government has called out the armed forces for relief operations in seven of the worst-hit districts, while local NGOs have also joined the effort. Flood-displaced people have struggled to cook in waterlogged homes. "Many people took refuge on rooftops of their inundated homesteads or living on roads with plastic sheets sheltering them amid rains... several health complexes are inundated making it nearly impossible to render medical care," a health official in flood-hit Moulvibazar in northeastern Bangladesh said.
In Dhaka and the southeastern port city of Chattogram, incessant rain since Saturday evening flooded roads and homes, left vehicles stranded and forced many people to remain indoors. According to news portal The Daily Star, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded 76 mm of rainfall in Dhaka between midnight and 6 am on Sunday. The report said the downpour overwhelmed the city's drainage system and brought daily life to a halt. "The overnight rain inundated my house compound and roads in the neighbourhood," said Nasrin Ahmed, a resident of Dhaka's Mirpur area.
Flooding between July and September is a regular occurrence in Bangladesh during the monsoon, as heavy rain, water from upper riparian regions in India, turbulent sea conditions and high tides in the Bay of Bengal slow the recession of river waters. For now, the country remains on alert as deaths, displacement and flooding continue to mount.
With PTI Inputs
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jul 12, 2026 16:54 IST
