When the floods came, they swept away everything – furniture, clothes, and even drums full of rice. Mainul Haque had never seen anything like it. “We were not prepared for this kind of flood,” said the 28-year-old. “We could not save anything.” Haque is a resident of Cholita Bari Village in Sylhet District, Bangladesh, one of the worst affected areas. from the catastrophic floods of the monsoons that have engulfed villages, washed away bridges, broken power lines and displaced millions. South Asia, home to one-fifth of the world’s population, is increasingly vulnerable to climate change. While annual Monsoon rains are vital to the region’s agricultural economies, becoming increasingly unpredictable. As temperatures rise, monsoons are now characterized by short periods of very heavy rainfall, which can cause deadly, rapidly moving floods. Millions trapped as floods sweep across Bangladesh and India Authorities on June 20 handed over relief supplies to flooded towns and villages as more than 4 million people were trapped in the country, officials said. (Video: Reuters) Aid workers in Bangladesh estimate that at least 40 people have died in monsoon-related events, including lightning and landslides, and the toll is expected to rise. Authorities in Assam and Meghalaya say at least 115 people have been killed along the border in northeastern India. The two countries have pushed their armies into action for rescue and relief work and have set up shelters for the displaced. Pictures from local media in Bangladesh show people walking in water up to the waist, holding a few objects in plastic bags held over their heads. Some moved safely in narrow wooden boats. In Assam, people wandering in flooded homes said they had no food or water. Data from the Indian Meteorological Department show how drastically the weather is changing. In the first three weeks of June, the state of Assam received 109 percent more rain than normal. Neighboring Meghalaya saw almost three times the average amount of rainfall. The city of Mawsynram recorded about 40 inches of rainfall in 24 hours on June 17, surpassing the previous high observed in 1966. “Densely populated South Asia is most vulnerable to climate change because of its proximity to the rapidly warming Indian Ocean to the south and rapidly melting glaciers to the north,” said Roxy Mathew Koll, a climatologist at the Indian Institute of Tropical. Meteorology. Cole noted that in recent years there has been an intensification of heat waves, cyclones, extreme rainfall and rising sea levels. The lives of hundreds of millions of some of the world’s poorest people are at stake. Dewan Uddus Choudhury, a 44-year-old farmer in the Barpeta area of Assam, is trapped in his partially submerged home with his wife and daughter. Food is depleted and no state aid has reached them. “We could not leave our house,” Choudhury said. “There are six to eight feet of water outside.” Elsewhere in the state, two police officers who were involved in rescue efforts were swept away by the floodwaters, local media reported. Damage to a major highway in the area has disrupted road traffic to and from Tripura State and has halted delivery. of the necessary. #WATCH Flood situation in Assam’s Chirang district remains bleak with thousands affected SDRF teams rescue more than 100 villagers. All those trapped were taken to safety. (18.06) pic.twitter.com/IzQeAVJ0H2 – ANI (ANI) 19 June 2022 To the northeast In Bangladesh, Sylhet and Sunamganj districts have been hit hardest by the floods. Farid Uddin Ahmed, a civil servant, traveled 13 hours — by bus, automatic rickshaw, truck, on foot, and finally by boat — to reach his flooded parents. house in Sunamganj district. The trip usually takes half a year. “I had to risk my life to get to my village,” Ahmed said. “There was no electricity. “I found at least one and a half meters of water in the house.” Residents of Companiganj in the Sylhet area said they have been without electricity for five days. 49 dead and hundreds injured in Bangladesh container fire Poor connectivity and communication barriers are hampering aid to those most in need, and relief workers say widespread flooding has made it difficult to store food for distribution. “In many affected areas, the only means of mobility are still by boat, and these, too, are rare in the current situation,” said Farah Kabir, head of ActionAid in Bangladesh. In addition to the immediate need for food and safe drinking water, people also need urgent access to health care, Kabir said, citing the risk of “waterborne diseases”. Although monsoon floods are a recurring problem, experts say governments are often slow to respond, only to find that the area is underwater. Authorities need to develop better forecasting mechanisms, build embankments and ensure that people are informed in a timely manner, said Partha Jyoti Das, head of the water and climate department at Aaranyak, a local NGO in Assam. In the end, he said, short-term measures will not be enough. The government must “prepare a long-term action plan” to mitigate floods and disasters, allowing people to “become resilient and coexist with the dangers of rivers in a sustainable way”. Majumder reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh and Naqvi from Guwahati, India.
