Flood warning for 16 districts including Chattogram stirs worry over HSC exams

On Tuesday, 7 July 2026, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) said short-term floods could hit low-lying riverside areas of 16 districts, Chattogram among them, over the next 24 to 72 hours. On the same day Chattogram city had its heaviest rain in 42 years. Students sitting the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent exams, and their parents, were worried: the English second paper was scheduled under the nine general education boards the next day, Wednesday 8 July, and the madrasa and technical boards also had exams. Teachers, students and parents were waiting to see what the boards would do.

According to the Patenga weather office, 412 millimetres of rain fell on Chattogram city in the 24 hours to 7 July, the most in a 24-hour period since 1983. The previous record was 511 millimetres in 24 hours on 4 August 1983. Agrabad, Halishahar, Chawkbazar, Katalganj, Rahmatganj, Jamalkhan and many other neighbourhoods went under water, and in some residential areas water entered ground floors. Waterlogging on the railway at Sholoshahar left the Cox's Bazar-bound Parjatak Express stranded midway, and part of a bypass road collapsed in Patenga.

Chattogram's district relief and rehabilitation officer, Mohammad Masudur Rahman, said that day that about 3,000 families were staying in shelters in the city and its upazilas.

The BWDB forecast of 7 July said no river in the country had crossed its danger level as of 9 am that day. Of the 127 water-level stations monitored, levels had risen at 38, fallen at 86 and held steady at three. But the centre warned that heavy rain upstream in Meghalaya and Tripura in India could make Bangladesh's rivers rise quickly. The areas at risk were:

• Chattogram region: if the Gumti, Muhuri, Feni, Selonia, Halda, Sangu and Matamuhuri rise quickly, temporary floods could hit low-lying riverside areas of Bandarban, Cox's Bazar, Feni, Chattogram and Khagrachhari, and low riverside land in Lakshmipur and Noakhali could be inundated.
• Sylhet and Mymensingh region: some rivers in Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Netrokona, Sherpur and Mymensingh could cross their danger levels and cause short-term floods.
• The north: the Teesta could cross its danger level within 24 to 48 hours, putting low riverside areas of Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat at risk; the Dharla and Dudhkumar could also rise quickly.

Professor Syed Aktaruzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and chairman of the Dhaka board, told Jago News that the boards were aware of the disaster and flood situation and had made all preparations. Centre secretaries, local administrations, the power board and others concerned had been given the necessary instructions so that the exams could be completed, and there were instructions to bring candidates to places near their centres if needed. He said immediate action would be taken if any district flooded or the situation became severe. According to RTV, he also said that if the crisis deepened, a decision would be announced after consulting the ministry.

The 2026 HSC and equivalent exams began simultaneously across the country on 2 July. A total of 12,70,583 candidates filled in forms, and the exams were being held at 2,697 centres. The written exams were scheduled to run until 8 August.

In 2026, for the first time, the nine general education boards were using a common question paper. That made it complicated to postpone an exam in one region while holding it in another. Those involved said that a postponement in one region because of flooding could mean postponing that exam on all boards, since holding it later with a different paper could raise questions of unfair treatment between candidates.

Photo: Owais Al Qarni / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, BV News 24 (Bangladesh Water Development Board flood forecast), Daily Bhorer Dak, Bhorer Kagoj, Bangla Stream, RTV, Dainik Shiksha, Daily Inqilab