Floods inflict damage worth Tk 144.21b in eastern Bangladesh: CPD

The floods that swept across 11 districts of the eastern region in the country in August left a trail of damage worth over Tk 144.21 billion or USD 1.20 billion, according to private research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Besides, the Noakhali district witnessed the maximum damage while the private sector faced more devastation than the public sector, CPD said.

CPD said this while unveiling the findings of the study tilted 'Recent Floods in Eastern Bangladesh Analysis of Damages and Recovery Efforts” at a press conference in the capital’s Dhanmondi on Sunday.

According to the CPD report, private sector faces 53 per cent of overall losses inflicted by floods in the eastern regions while public sectors bore 47 per cent of losses.

The most affected district in terms of monetary value was Noakhali, making up 29.07 per cent of the total damage, followed by Cumilla with 23.51 per cent, Feni with 18.61 per cent and Chattogram with 11.63 per cent.

Several districts including Noakhali, Cumilla and Feni have been disproportionately affected compared to others, according to the study.

The study showed total damage is 1.81 per cent of the national budget of the 2024-25 (FY25) fiscal. The damage also reached 0.29 per cent in terms of share of provisional GDP (gross domestic products) of the 2025-24 fiscal, and 0.26 per cent in terms of share of projected GDP of FY25.

Heavy rains beginning on 19 August and water from upstream inundated 11 districts of the eastern region.

For the study, CPD considered 11 flood affected districts including Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Feni, Khagrachhari, Coxsbazar, Cumilla, Noakhali, Chattogram, Lakshmipur, and Brahmanbari to assess the damage.

The agriculture and forestry sector suffered the highest with damage of about Tk 51.70 billion - which is 35.85 per cent of the total damage, followed by the infrastructure sector about Tk 46.54 billion (32.27 per cent), the housing sector over Tk 24.07 billion (16.69 per cent), according to the CPD study.