The death toll from massive flooding and mudslides in Bangladesh and India’s Assam state has risen to 62, according to officials.
The disaster management agency of Assam reported that 32 of the state’s 35 districts were submerged after weeks of heavy rains causing the Brahmaputra, one of Asia’s largest rivers, to overflow.
The incident has displaced more than three million individuals.
Currently, the Indian army is assisting with rescue operations, while the air force is on standby.
Forecasters anticipate a break in the precipitation after the downpours.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister of Assam, toured flood-ravaged areas and described the situation as dire.
“We are now focusing on relief and rescue operations,” Sarma said, adding that the army and other rescue agencies have evacuated more than 20,000 people.
Typically, the region experiences annual monsoon rains between June and September. The rains are essential for seasonally planted crops, but they frequently cause extensive damage.
The flooding caused by swollen rivers has also spread to Bangladesh, where the government has warned that the situation is likely to worsen in the Sunamganj and Sylhet districts in the north and northeast.
Circumstances in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, at least nine people have been killed by lightning, millions of homes have been submerged, and transportation links have been severed.
According to the United Nations’ intergovernmental panel on climate change, approximately 17 percent of Bangladesh’s population will be forced to relocate within the next decade if global warming continues at its current rate.
Sylhet, a district in Bangladesh’s north-eastern region, has been inundated by heavy rainfall and floods, prompting the deployment of army personnel to assist with relief efforts.
Large swaths of the Sylhet region are experiencing power outages and telecommunications failures, and multiple roads have been submerged, destroying transportation networks.
The catastrophic flooding in Sylhet, the worst in a generation, has also forced the city’s Osmani International Airport to close.
As a country with low-lying land situated in the largest river delta system in Asia, Bangladesh is particularly susceptible to climate change.
According to experts, the recent extreme weather is a symptom of this.
Professor Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Dhaka, told, “This is yet another illustration of how severely climate change affects all of us.
We all feel it when the world emits emissions, but climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh feel it the most. Everyone must see how catastrophic the current situation in Sylhet is so that the wealthier nations will act.”
As the rain continues to fall, flood warnings remain in effect throughout Sylhet and neighboring areas.
