News Flash
DHAKA, July 14, 2026 (BSS) - State Minister for Water Resources Forhad Hossain Azad said today the government has intensified measures to repair embankments, protect riverbanks and address waterlogging across the country.
“The government is focusing not only on emergency disaster response but also on long-term sustainable solutions. Measures are being implemented to reduce future flood damage through improved river management, embankment strengthening, modernisation of sluice gates, waterlogging mitigation and flood control infrastructure,” he said.
Speaking at a press briefing following an inter-ministerial meeting at the Department of Information conference room in the Secretariat, the state minister said more than 700,000 geo-bags had already been supplied to vulnerable areas for emergency riverbank protection and embankment preservation.
Azad expressed hope that the overall flood situation would continue to improve if favourable weather conditions persist, adding that the ministry will maintain constant monitoring of all vulnerable areas and remain prepared to respond to any emergency.
He added that the Ministry of Water Resources has another 600,000 geo-bags in reserve, while a substantial stock of plastic synthetic geo-bags has also been stored for immediate deployment if required.
Azad said the government has undertaken more than 1,500 emergency work packages* in flood-prone and vulnerable areas across the country.
The projects are being implemented through local Members of Parliament, district administrations and officials of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).
Of these, nearly 500 work packages have already been completed, while work on around 1,000 others is currently underway, he said.
"If heavy rainfall or a fresh flood situation develops in the coming days, these geo-bags and other emergency equipment will be used immediately to prevent river erosion and protect embankments," he said.
Azad said the severe flooding and waterlogging experienced in the Chattogram Division over the past week were caused by exceptionally heavy rainfall.
Although Bangladesh receives an average annual rainfall of around 2,200 millimetres, record rainfall was recorded in Chattogram Division between July 6 and July 13, triggering floods in Chattogram, the Chattogram Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar.
During the period, Chattogram recorded about 1,454mm of rainfall, Bandarban 1,102mm, and Cox's Bazar 846mm, he said, describing such rainfall within a short period in a single division as an extremely rare event.
The intense rainfall caused flash floods, waterlogging and widespread flooding, he added.
The state minister said he, along with the Water Resources Secretary and the Director General of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, visited Chattogram on July 12 to inspect the flood situation.
They held meetings with local lawmakers, the mayor of Chattogram City Corporation, the chairman of the Chattogram Development Authority and other officials before visiting affected areas.
Azad said the inspection specifically examined whether any ongoing projects under the Ministry of Water Resources had contributed to waterlogging.
He noted that the Army-supervised waterlogging mitigation project in Chattogram is about 95% complete and is expected to be handed over to the Chattogram City Corporation by the end of this year.
Once completed, the project is expected to provide a long-term solution to the city's chronic waterlogging problem and significantly reduce similar incidents in the future, he said.
According to the state minister, several areas of Cox's Bazar suffered the worst damage during this year's floods, with embankments and polders damaged at four locations.
He said embankments were breached in Puratonkhali and Purba Para near the newly established Matarbari upazila due to intense water pressure.
Emergency repair work has already begun with the participation of local residents, he said.
Another embankment was damaged in Purba Mehernama, while residents in several areas cut embankments themselves to drain accumulated floodwater. Similar incidents occurred in Shilkhali, he said.
Following these incidents, authorities have instructed the rapid reconstruction of damaged embankments and the rehabilitation and repair of sluice gates to improve future drainage capacity, he said.
Azad said that as of 6:00am on July 14, water levels in several rivers remained above danger levels.
The Kushiyara River was flowing 26 centimetres above the danger level at both the Fenchuganj station in Sylhet and the Markuli station in Sunamganj.
The Surma River at Chatak was 6 centimetres above the danger level, while the Someswari River at Kamalakanda in Netrokona was 13 centimetres above the danger mark. The Teesta River at Dalia in Nilphamari was also flowing 7 centimetres above the danger level.
However, he expressed optimism that river levels are gradually receding as rainfall has decreased, and said rivers currently flowing above danger levels are expected to return to normal within the next one to two days.
The state minister said all officials and employees of the Ministry of Water Resources have been instructed to remain on round-the-clock duty in affected areas.
Rapid repairs and emergency protection measures are being carried out wherever embankments have been damaged, he said.
He added that the ministry undertakes extensive preparations before every flood season, but this year preparedness was further strengthened in anticipation of possible extreme rainfall.
