Dhaka – Bangladesh has issued flood warnings for vast swathe of areas in 16 administrative districts in the southeast and northeast, following heavy rainfall in parts of Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar. The downpour has been attributed to a low-pressure system that formed over the Bay of Bengal.

The Bangladesh Water Development Board reported on Wednesday that water levels in several rivers could exceed danger marks within the next 24 to 72 hours.

Torrential rains have already submerged vast tracts of land in the southeastern districts of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, and the hill districts of Khagrachhari, Bandarban, and Rangamati, leaving millions of people marooned.

Over the past few days, at least 10 people, including eight Rohingya Muslims, have been killed in a series of landslides that buried their homes under mud in Cox’s Bazar, according to rescue officials.

Authorities in the district are now working to relocate some 30,000 people at risk of flooding and further landslides.

In its warning, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said that within 72 hours, short-term flooding could affect low-lying areas along rivers in parts of Bandarban, Cox’s Bazar, Feni, Chattogram, and Khagrachhari districts.

In addition, temporary inundation is possible in low-lying riverine areas of Laxmipur and Noakhali districts.

The centre also forecast short-term flooding in low-lying areas along rivers in parts of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Netrokona, Sherpur, and Mymensingh districts in the northeast within the next 24 to 72 hours.

The special bulletin, signed by Mostafa Kamal Jihan, Assistant Engineer at the centre, noted that the Teesta River may flow above danger level over the next 48 hours.

This could trigger short-term flooding in low-lying riverine areas of Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat districts in the north.

Over the past 24 hours, heavy rainfall has been recorded in the Chattogram division, while heavy downpours have occurred in the Sylhet and Barishal divisions, as well as in India’s upstream provinces of Meghalaya and Tripura.

Meteorological agencies have forecast continued heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over the next four days in the Chattogram, Sylhet, Mymensingh, and Rangpur divisions, as well as in upstream areas of India’s Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, and West Bengal provinces.

Meanwhile, heavy rain has also been reported in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, which borders Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.