In August 2024, Bangladesh witnessed one of the devastating floods in its history, leading to widespread destruction across the country. The most affected regions were Noakhali, Cumilla, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chattogram, and Moulvibazar. Severe monsoon rains caused major rivers to overflow, submerging vast regions, including both urban centers and rural areas.
Dr. Mohammad Azizur Rahman, Assistant Director of Technical at Technovative Solutions Limited and Technical Coordinator of the C2IMPRESS Project, shares his insights on the Bangladesh flood situation. He discusses how C2IMPRESS remains actively involved in research and studies to deliver impactful solutions to disaster-prone regions globally, with a particular focus on aligning these efforts with the needs of Bangladesh.
Fig: Flood situation overview as of September 4, 2024. Source: Brac
Earlier this year in May, 13 Upazilas in Sylhet had been inundated due to the incessant rains and onrush of water from upstream. In total, three previous disasters this year affected another 13 million people in Bangladesh, notes a report of a UN agency. With climate change expected to increase the frequency and intensity of such events, Bangladesh's approach to building resilience will be critical in determining how the country can cope with future challenges. By 2050, it's predicted that Bangladesh could lose 17% of its land to rising sea levels, leading to massive displacement and urban migration, further straining already overburdened cities.
The flooding, particularly severe in border areas, has been linked to extreme rainfall patterns exacerbated by climate change. These unusual weather patterns have led to intense and unpredictable rainfall, particularly in regions where water from Indian rivers flows into Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh share 54 transboundary rivers, including the Ganga (Padma), Teesta, and Brahmaputra (Jamuna). The increased frequency of such extreme weather events clearly indicates the changing climate, which poses ongoing risks to the country.
Disaster risk reduction: a development strategy worldwide
SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
The 2024 floods in Bangladesh underlines the urgent need for global action on climate change and continued investment in resilience and adaptation strategies. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) cuts across different aspects and sectors of development. There are 25 targets related to disaster risk reduction in 10 of the 17 sustainable development goals, firmly establishing the role of disaster risk reduction as a core development strategy. It is a global issue that affects communities, economies, and ecosystems around the world. With the increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards—such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and wildfires—coupled with factors like climate change, urbanisation, and environmental degradation, the risk of disasters has become a critical concern on a global scale.
To effectively address disaster risk, a holistic approach is essential, encompassing preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. International collaboration is crucial, as disasters frequently cross borders, impacting multiple nations and regions. The recent extreme weather events, including the current flooding in Bangladesh, are not isolated cases but rather symptoms of a larger trend tied to climate change. Factors like rising sea levels, glacier melt, and unpredictable rainfall are leading to more frequent and severe flooding, especially in coastal areas.
About C2IMPRESS Project: for a sustainable DRR approach
The European Union's C2IMPRESS project is a significant initiative in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR). The C2IMPRESS (Co-creative Improved Understanding and Awareness of Multi-Hazard Risks for Disaster Resilient Society) project represents a proactive approach to disaster risk management, embedding sustainability into disaster resilience strategies, focusing on improving multi-hazard risk awareness and resilience across four case study areas in different countries:
- Ordu, Turkey - Focus on flood risks and landslides.
- Egaleo, Greece - Study of heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes.
- Centro Region, Portugal - Research on coastal and fluvial flooding and wildfires.
- Balearic Islands, Spain - Analysis of Mediterranean floods and wildfires.
These areas were chosen to represent diverse environmental challenges and risk factors. The C2IMPRESS Consortium is constantly involved in studies and research for a meaningful output to the rest of the disaster-prone regions throughout the world, where its tools and results could be implemented for a sustainable disaster risk reduction solution for the generations to come.
C2IMPRESS and the path to resilience
Effective flood management policies in Bangladesh are increasingly vital for enhancing resilience, adapting to climate change, and reducing the risk of cascading socio-economic impacts. Early flood management efforts primarily focused on structural measures, such as building embankments or dams. However, these approaches have proven insufficient due to unplanned land and river management. The transboundary nature of major rivers has further complicated flood management efforts, as has the inefficient early warning system. In Bangladesh, barriers to implementing more effective flood risk management include insufficient knowledge about risk exposure, vulnerabilities, and local needs; a lack of capacity within local institutions; governance issues; and inadequate funding for adaptation investments. A combination of structural and non-structural flood management strategies, along with prioritizing community-based vulnerability and adaptation initiatives, could help the government address Bangladesh's flooding challenges.
The EU-funded C2IMPRESS project could play a significant role in supporting flood management in Bangladesh. This innovative project aims to develop "place and people" centric integrated flood management risk and resilience initiatives, moving away from the traditional "hazard-centric" approach. One key aspect of the project is its multi-dimensional vulnerability assessment method, which addresses the physical, social, institutional, economic, and governance aspects of resilience. This method is crucial for assessing the five resilience capacities of the existing societal system: (i) capacity to anticipate, (ii) capacity to absorb disasters and losses, (iii) coping capacity, (iv) capacity to restore within the shortest possible time, and (v) adaptive capacity. The goal is to develop a comprehensive, multi-domain, multi-dimensional risk and resilience framework for flood management.
To involve citizens and stakeholders in the framework development, the novel PPCP (Public, Private, and Civic Partnership) concept, developed within the C2IMPRESS project, can be applied. PPCP is a 'co-creation' approach and citizen outreach strategy that adopts the principles of collaborative thinking, interdisciplinarity, and collective intelligence. This approach facilitates the co-creation of system knowledge, collaborative decision-making, and policy-making in a quintuple helix (encourages the perspective of the knowledge society, and of knowledge democracy for knowledge production and innovation) setting. This includes the co-creation of local visions, plans for citizen science activities related to hazard risk observation and monitoring, and the development of a policy action roadmap towards a just, risk-resilient society.
By integrating these innovative strategies, Bangladesh can significantly improve its flood management efforts, leading to more resilient communities and reduced socio-economic impacts from flooding.
Reference, infographic & map:
About the author
Dr Mohammad Azizur Rahman has more than 22 years of experience in research and consultancy in the Water, Energy, and Environmental Management disciplines. He acquired his PhD degree from the Georg-August University at Göttingen, Germany. He has extensive experience working with various simulation and optimisation techniques to enhance water, energy, and environmental sustainability. He is involved in developing integrated multi-domain, multi-actor decision support systems for renewable energy, water resources, and environmental issues in several EU and UKRI-funded projects. At TVS, Mohammad is currently coordinating the UKRI-funded EC-8 project IMPHORAA and acting as a technical coordinator of C2IMPRESS. He is also leading several scientific teams that develop decision support system frameworks across different industrial domains (e.g., Climate Change, Disaster Risk and Resilience, Electric Vehicles, Thermal Energy Storage, Carbon Capture and Utilization, etc.). One of his ongoing projects is the development of tools for citizen assembly formation, set-up, agenda setting, monitoring, and evaluation. He is also extensively involved in collaborative EU and UKRI proposal development and has successfully obtained several funding grants. Mr. Rahman also has teaching and team supervision experience. He acts as a reviewer for various research funding institutions and scientific journals. Numerous journal articles bear his name.
Reference infographics:
https://www.brac.net/dakcheamardesh/sitrep/04092024SitRep10.pdf
Feature photo courtesy: A view of the flooded banks of the Gomti River in Cumilla, Bangladesh during the August 2024 flood. Mahfuzul Hasan, bdnews24