As floodwaters begin to recede following intense monsoon rains, many residents in southeastern Bangladesh have been left without homes. Some blame India for allegedly releasing water from a dam. Dhaka, Bangladesh – Ekramul Haque was shocked when his uncle called him on the afternoon of August 21, informing him that their ancestral home in the Feni district, near the Indian border, was submerged.
At the time, Haque was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away in Mirsarai, where he lives with his wife and children. The next day, it took him 40 minutes in a minibus, battling the torrential rain, to reach his village.
“I rushed back the next morning through the downpour. By the time I arrived, the water was knee-deep and had soaked everything,” the 29-year-old said. “I urged my extended family to come with me to Mirsarai.” His parents and one uncle joined him there.
As the heavy rain persisted and reports indicated that floodwaters had engulfed single-storey homes in his village, Haque decided to organize rescue missions to help other stranded family members and villagers. “I contacted some university friends and formed a team. However, I was stunned to find that the road from Mirsarai to Chhagalnaiya was completely submerged under chest-high water, making it impassable,” he recounted.
Their initial attempt to build a raft from banana trees failed due to the strong currents. They eventually managed to hire a small boat at three times the usual rate. “The current was very strong, and it took the boatman three hours to navigate us through. By the time we arrived, nearly all the houses were completely underwater,” Haque told Al Jazeera.
The area where Haque grew up doesn’t usually experience such severe flooding. “I’ve never seen floodwaters rise beyond ankle-deep before this monsoon. My parents mentioned the 1988 flood reached knee-deep, but this situation is unprecedented,” he added.
Floods in central, eastern, and southeastern Bangladesh have claimed 23 lives and impacted over 5.7 million people. Approximately 1.24 million families across 11 districts are stranded, cut off from the rest of the country by relentless monsoon rains and overflowing rivers. As waters gradually recede, there is an urgent need for food, clean water, medicine, and dry clothing, particularly in remote areas like Haque’s village, which faces severe challenges in rescue and relief efforts.
“We’ve been working non-stop to deliver urgent relief,” Haque said. “Yesterday, we reached a village where people had been without food for 72 hours. Many were severely ill and lacked clean drinking water. It’s an unprecedented crisis.”
Anti-Indian Sentiment
Bangladesh, situated on the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, is accustomed to annual monsoon floods, particularly in the low-lying northeastern regions. Residents are used to preparing for the seasonal deluge by moving valuables to safer places and stocking up on essentials.
However, this year’s floods have taken many in the southeast by surprise. In flood-affected districts like Feni, Cumilla, and Lakshmipur—close to the Indian border—some residents are blaming India for allegedly releasing water from the Dumbur Dam in Tripura. India denies opening the dam’s sluice gates. The dam, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Bangladeshi border, is a low structure and contributes electricity to Bangladesh's grid. It sits on the Gumti River, which merges with the Meghna in Bangladesh.
Tripura is also experiencing severe flooding, with 31 deaths reported and over 100,000 residents displaced into relief camps. Floods and landslides have impacted nearly 1.7 million people in India.
Kamrul Hasan Nomani, 41, from Lakshmipur, said the floodwaters in his home are knee-deep, causing significant damage. He believes no amount of rain could have caused such high water levels without the dam’s release. “Many of us believe India did this intentionally,” he claimed. The anti-India sentiment, fueled by previous allegations of Indian interference and exacerbated by the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh, has intensified.
India attributes the flooding to excessive rainfall, and acknowledged that a flood-related power outage and communication failure on August 21 prevented them from providing timely river updates to Bangladesh. Shafiqul Alam, press secretary for Bangladesh’s new interim government, reported that India’s high commissioner stated the dam’s water was “released automatically” due to elevated levels.
Sardar Uday Raihan, an executive engineer at Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, noted that the agency usually receives updates about rising water levels in India twice daily but did not get any this time. “Without accurate information, it’s challenging to provide a reliable flood forecast,” he said, adding that timely warnings could have mitigated some damage.
Destroyed Homes and Crops
Professor Mohamad Khalequzzaman of Lock Haven University noted that the last significant flooding in these districts was in 1988. He suggested that while the heavy rainfall was a primary cause, factors like urbanization, river siltation, and loss of natural drainage contributed to the severity of this year's floods.
In a still-flooded village in Cumilla, Abdul Matin, a teacher, lamented the loss of his home. “I’ve lost everything. My house is washed away, and I’m struggling to cope with the financial loss,” Matin said. He attributes the disaster partly to the actions of India.
Ismail Mridha, a 46-year-old farmer from Sonagazi Upazila in Feni, reported that his home and farmland have been devastated. “My house and crops are gone,” he said. “Surviving the flood is one thing; recovering from the financial ruin is another.”
