Published on 03:02 PM, June 17, 2017

510mm rainfall in southeast Bangladesh June 12-14: Nasa

More rain expected

Nasa has recorded 510mm (20 inches) rainfall in southeastern Bangladesh between June 12 and 14 when landslides triggered by heavy downpour killed at least 150 people in five hilly districts so far.

"Monsoon rainfall is expected to continue to effect the area (southeastern Bangladesh)," The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) of US said in a report yesterday.

Bangladesh Army personnel conducting rescue and recovery operations in Lemujiri area of Bandarban. Photo: Prabir Das/ Sanjoy Kumar Barua

The rainfall analysis was made at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland using its near-real time Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data, the report said.

READ more: Landslides Death toll 150 - Call for rehabilitation, relief gets louder

IMERG rainfall totals have been adjusted to reflect observed values in other similar extreme rainfall events.

Search going on at landslide-devastated Poschim Muslimpara of Rangamati Sadar upazila on Friday, June 16, 2017. Photo: Prabir Das


GPM is the Global Precipitation Measurement mission satellite and constellation of satellites that are managed by both Nasa and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA.

Amid such shortage of food, drinking water and medicines, demands for rehabilitation and extensive relief operation have grown louder in Rangamati, with landslide survivors living in dismal conditions in shelter centers for the last four days.

People, including children, take shelter at BTV's Rangamati substation as they are left homeless by a devastating mudslide that hit the hill district on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Photo: Prabir Das

Victims and different groups have also intensified calls for the government to declare the district as a disaster area.

Official death toll rose to 150 in five hill districts including Rangamati, the worst affected district with 112 confirmed deaths.