Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief
Profile
- Head
- M. Iqbal Hossain
- Role
- State Minister
- Annual budget
- ৳103,620,000,000
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1972
- Legal basis
- Disaster Management Act 2012 (passed September 2012); Standing Orders on Disaster (SOD) 2010; Constitution of Bangladesh, Article 55; Rules of Business 1996
Managing concurrent haor flash flood response (46,730 ha of boro paddy submerged across 7 districts, ~3 million people at risk) and pre-monsoon cyclone preparedness activation, while State Minister M. Iqbal Hossain is two months into the portfolio under PM Tarique Rahman's BNP government.
Recent activity
- 2026-02-17 appointment M. Iqbal Hossain (BNP, Mymensingh-3, born 17 October 1950, BUET graduate) sworn in as State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief in PM Tarique Rahman's cabinet; 49 ministers and state ministers sworn in at South Plaza of the National Parliament Building. ↗↗↗
- 2026-04-25 other Flash flood warning issued for Sunamganj haor region as heavy upstream hill-torrent runoff from India's Meghalaya highlands breached rural roads and began inundating standing boro paddy; farmers in haor districts urged to accelerate harvesting. ↗↗↗
- 2026-04-29 other START Bangladesh Hub activated anticipatory action for haor flash flooding; Start Fund Bangladesh and Islamic Relief Bangladesh jointly reached 2,700 vulnerable families across 8 unions in Companiganj, Kanaighat, and Gowainghat upazilas of Sylhet with Tk 5,000 each in multipurpose cash grants ahead of peak flood. ↗↗
- 2026-04-30 other BDRCS Situation Report 1 confirmed northeastern haor flash flood across 5 districts, 17 upazilas, and 102 unions; approximately 3 million people at risk; standing boro paddy nearing harvest severely threatened. MoDMR's DDM coordinated government response through district-level Disaster Management Committees. ↗↗
- 2026-05-05 other Haor flash floods confirmed across 7 districts (Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria); 46,730 hectares of boro paddy submerged per DAE data, with Sunamganj worst-affected (14,371 ha, 8.7% of district cultivation) and Netrokona second (11,522 ha, 28.1% of district cultivation); estimated production shortfall approximately 200,000 tonnes of rice. ↗↗↗
- 2026-05-10 other Government relief distribution operations underway across haor-affected districts; Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) projected major haor basin rivers (Surma-Kushiyara, Dhanu-Baulai, Vuigai-Kangs) to simultaneously breach pre-monsoon danger levels; MoDMR coordinating multi-agency response including CPP volunteers. ↗↗
- 2026-05-15 other Cyclone preparedness activation underway ahead of pre-monsoon season; CPP network of 203 staff and approximately 76,020 volunteers across 7 zones, 13 districts, and 3,801 units placed on heightened alert for Bay of Bengal cyclone risk concurrent with ongoing haor relief operations. ↗↗
Provenance & notes
Ministry established in 1972 as Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation; renamed and reorganised multiple times; current name in use since re-separation from the Ministry of Food in 2009. Primary sub-ordinate body is the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), established November 2012 under the Disaster Management Act 2012. The Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) operates jointly with BDRCS under MoDMR oversight with ~76,020 volunteers. State Minister M. Iqbal Hossain (born 17 October 1950, BUET graduate, elected Mymensingh-3) is the ministerial head; no full minister is assigned to this portfolio in the current cabinet -- the State Minister holds sole political authority. Budget figure Tk 10,362 crore (FY2025-26) = 103,620,000,000 BDT. Haor flood hectare figure (46,730 ha) is the DAE-reported total across 7 districts as of early May 2026; an earlier figure of 7,000+ ha cited in initial days referred to first-reported submerged area before full extent was mapped -- the 46,730 ha figure is the verified total. Verification status: verified (2+ primary sources cross-check on all key claims: appointment confirmed by Wikipedia + Daily Star + BSS; budget from BSS + MoF portal; flood data from BDRCS sitrep + Daily Star + Jagonews24).
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Iqbal_Hossain
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/governance/news/who-gets-which-ministry-inside-bnps-cabinet-line-4108521
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/361920
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Disaster_Management_and_Relief
- https://www.bssnews.net/national-budget-2025-2026/279438
- https://mof.portal.gov.bd/site/budget_mof/dac499ef-451e-4cac-85f4-92c857be2ba4/Ministry-of-Disaster-Management-and-Relief
- https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/bangladesh-red-crescent-society-situation-report-1-northeastern-haor-region-flash-flood-30-april-2026
- https://bdrcs.org/situation-report-1-northeastern-haor-flood-april-2026/
- https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/start-bangladesh-hub-anticipatory-action-flash-flooding-haor-29-april2026
- https://www.jagonews24.com/en/biz-econ/news/92381
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/heavy-rain-upstream-water-damage-crops-six-districts-4154661
- https://www.bssnews.net/agriculture-news/383261
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/environment/sunamganj-haor-flooded-hill-torrents-breach-rural-road-threaten-crops-1424756
- https://bdrcs.org/cyclone-preparedness-programm-cpp/
- https://modmr.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/modmr.portal.gov.bd/page/a7c2b9e1_6c9d_4ecf_bb53_ec74653e6d05/NPDM2021-25%20DraftVer5_23032020.pdf
- https://www.un-spider.org/bangladesh-department-disaster-management-ddm
- https://en.bd-pratidin.com/city/2026/04/25/61396
- https://www.ffwc.gov.bd/