Staff Correspondent

The European Union (EU) has released €1 million or around Tk127 million in humanitarian aid to help Bangladesh authorities respond to the floods that have affected the country’s north over the past weeks.

The funding will help address the most pressing needs of vulnerable people in the hardest-hit areas in the northeast and northwest of the country, said the EU on Tuesday.

EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said the monsoon season floods have gravely impacted people in the north of Bangladesh.

“As we did after tropical cyclone Remal, the EU is once more stepping up its assistance to the most affected populations. This funding will help provide much needed relief.”

This allocation will be used to provide assistance to the most affected communities, including the provision of cash assistance, for people in need of shelter, food, clean water and hygiene and sanitation supplies.

This new funding comes in addition to the more than 30 million euros already allocated in humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh earlier this year.

This assistance mainly funded support to the Rohingya population living in Cox’s Bazar, but also the response to other emergencies in the country, such as recent heatwaves and tropical cyclone Remal, as well as anticipatory action.

In the past two months, severe rainfall has caused flooding in the northern regions of Bangladesh. Up to 3.7 million people have been affected only in the northeastern part of Bangladesh, while damage assessment continues in the northwest.

Over 600 000 people are estimated in need of shelter. The risk of additional flooding remains high as the cyclone season continues, which could further increase existing needs.

Combined with the effects of cyclone Remal, which struck in May, the floods have so far impacted 30 percent of the country, said the EU Embassy in Dhaka.