Incessant rain and tidal water have wreaked havoc in four districts of Chattogram division over the last few days. Thousands of people have been suffering from shortages of drinking water.
Bad weather has left thousands of households without power. Road communications with many areas were severed as many roads, bridges and culverts went under water.
At least six people, including four Rohingyas, were killed in three landslides in Cox's Bazar and Bandarban on Monday as heavy rain continues to batter the southeastern region.
Torrential rains are causing flash floods and landslides in some areas in the Rohingya camps of Ukhiya and Teknaf.According to the RRRC official, there were 119 landslides in the camps and over 1,500 homes were damaged or destroyed due to bad weather. Some 90 Rohingyas were moved to safer places.
Due to the heavy to very heavy rainfall, landslides may occur at places over the hilly regions of Chattogram and Sylhet divisions, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).
Members of the Bangladesh Army have been deployed in Chittagong and Bandarban to tackle the ongoing floods and landslides in the districts.
Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed said the members have been deployed on Tuesday to assist the civil administration in dealing with the flood situation and landslides in Chittagong and Bandarban.
Rescue operations, emergency relief operations, providing medical assistance, and all-out assistance to deal with the flood situation are going on continuously by the deployed troops, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). In Chattogram city, almost all low-lying areas are under water for five days due to heavy rains. This is a city where waterlogging is quite common.
Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) has been implementing a Tk 5,617 crore mega project since 2017 to address waterlogging. City dwellers allege that they are yet to get any benefit from the project.
The city's Chawkbazar, Bakalia, Halishahar, Bahaddarhat, Badurtola, Kapasgola, Sholoshahar, Shulakbahar, Muradpur, Katalganj, Dewan Bazar, Agrabad, Chandgaon and Bibirhat areas are under waist- to knee-deep water.
"Water entered the ground floor of our home around midnight on Thursday. We moved to one of our tenants' home on the first floor," said Shahedul Azam, a resident of Rahattar Pool Wazir Ali Shah Lane.
Meanwhile, Chattogram city Awami League President Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury and General Secretary AJM Nasir Uddin in a joint statement on Monday urged the service providers work in tandem to address waterlogging.In Bandarban, vast areas of the district town and five upazilas -- Thanchi, Ruma, Roangchhari, Lama and Alikadam -- have been inundated due to water from the overflowing Sangu and Matamuhuri rivers and incessant rain over the last seven days.
People in the district town and Thanchi, Ruma, and Roangchhari upazilas are without power for about 48 hours. Road communications between the district town and the five upazila towns remain snapped for three days.
People are suffering from shortages of drinking water. Many have moved to flood shelters.
In Cox's Bazar, over two lakh people in four upazilas have been affected by incessant rains and tidal surges.
A youth drowned in the Matamuhuri river of Chakaria upazila on Monday due to strong currents.
Coastal erosion continued along the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive.
In Noakhali and Laxmipur, crops on over 17,000 hectares have gone under water over the last one week due to incessant rain and tidal surges, according to local Water Development Board officials.
Meanwhile, a weather bulletin of Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre yesterday said the Muhuri, Sangu and Matamuhuri rivers in Chattogram, Feni, Bandarban and Cox's Bazar may flow above the danger levels today causing deterioration of the overall flood situation in low-lying areas.
