B'desh floods recede but millions still marooned

North-east Bangladesh's worst floods in nearly 20 years began receding, but rescue workers were struggling to help millions marooned by extreme weather across the region that has killed around 60 people. Floods are a regular menace to millions of people in low-lying Bangladesh and neighbouring northeast India, but many experts say that climate change is increasing the frequency, ferocity and unpredictability. In the past week after heavy rains in India, floodwater breached a major embankment in Bangladesh's Sylhet region, affecting around two million people, swamping dozens of villages and killing at least 10. Arifuzzman Bhuiyan, head of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, said that the floods had hit some 70 per cent of Sylhet district and about 60 per cent of neighbouring Sunamganj. - AFP