Down with downpour

The incessant rain, induced by a depression, made people suffer for the third consecutive day yesterday in the capital and elsewhere.

Many thoroughfares, roads and alleys in Dhaka city went under knee-to-waist-deep water, throwing life out of gear.

Dhaka dwellers waded through knee-to-waist-deep water on streets as the scanty and clogged storm drainage system continued to be overwhelmed by the rain. To add to their misery, many public transport services stayed off road fearing breakdowns on flooded streets. 

The capital had an astonishing 262mm of rain in 54 hours, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon, according to the Dhaka Met office records.

The silver lining is that the rain that had ruined many people's weekend could ease off today, as forecast by the Met office.

Roads in West Dhanmondi, Jhigatola and other parts of Dhanmondi residential area on both sides of Sat Masjid Road were severely water-logged.

Many had their ground-floor homes and garages flooded.

“The wheels of the cars parked inside the ground floor of our six-storey building at West Dhanmondi had partially gone under water,” said a local, adding that the rain finally stopped when some of the residents were thinking about jacking the cars up and putting those on stacks of bricks.

Rickshaws were the dominant mode of transport yesterday; they were in great demand among office-goers and children going to schools.

The rain swamped large swaths of private residential area Bashundhara as well. Thoroughfares there were waterlogged disrupting movement of locals.  

Abdul Karim, a resident of Bashundhara, said, “Small vehicles like cars and auto-rickshaws could not ply inside Bashundhara and thousands got totally stuck in their homes.”

Rubel Hossain, an Uber driver, said he somehow waded through Dhanmondi Road-27 which was under knee-deep water. Electric cables of his car got severed in the process. 

“I am avoiding any trip to Motijheel, Paltan or Moghbazar areas as vehicles would surely break down in rainwater,” he said.

Parts of Karwan Bazar, Motijheel, Farmgate, Dhanmondi, Nikunja, Mirpur, Green Road, Mohammadpur, Jatrabari, Shahjahanpur, Shantinagar, Khilgaon, Demra, Mohammadpur, Badda and several other areas in the capital were inundated. 

In many places, people had to stay indoors for hours. 

The traffic situation in Banasree got worse during the rain, said Shabnam Sultana, a local. The poor state of the streets compounded the sufferings of the locals, she said, adding that people had to wait for around half an hour just to get through the gate of the residential area.

The stretch of Rokeya Sarani between Senpara and Sheorapara along with all adjoining lanes and by-lanes was waterlogged until noon yesterday, said east Sheorapara resident Abu Shahin.  

On many thoroughfares in the city, vehicles broke down in knee-deep water.

According to the Met office, it rained 149mm in the 24 hours between Friday morning and yesterday morning. Another 63mm was recorded until yesterday noon.

The highest rainfall in the country was, however, recorded in Gopalganj -- 271mm in the 24 hours between Friday morning and yesterday morning.      

Md Rasheduzzaman, a meteorologist and duty forecasting officer at Dhaka Met office, said such rain under the influence of depression in October and November was usual.

Post-monsoon low over the Bay and those leading to land depression is not unusual in these two months, he said.

The road in front of Notre Dame College in the capital looks like a river after three days of downpour. Photo: Palash Khan

Rainfall may decrease from today morning as the land depression is expected to gradually weaken, said the Met office website yesterday.

Our staff correspondents in Chittagong reported that tidal water coupled with rain triggered waterlogging in many low-lying areas in the port city, including Nimtoli Biswa Road, Agrabad Access Road, Arakan Road, Chaktai and Khatunganj.

Most of these areas went under knee-deep water.

Even though it had not rained that much yesterday morning, the heavens opened after 3:00pm flooding Lal Chand Road, KB Aman Ali Road, DC Road, Telipatti Road and some parts of Bahaddarhat to Shah Amanat Bridge Connecting Road.

Many areas of Shulak Bahar, Bahaddarhat, Kapashgola, Dewanbazar, Sholoshahar, Prabartan intersection, Muradpur, and Oxygen intersection were also inundated.

Most of the streets mentioned were in poor state which added to the sufferings of the port city dwellers.

A flooded and almost deserted street in Motijheel. The photos were taken yesterday afternoon. Photo: Palash Khan

Haider Ali, president of Chaktai Trade and Industries Association, said many businesses just had to close the shutters as the roads went under water.

Our Pirojpur correspondent reported that nonstop rain caused the water levels of the Kacha, Baleshwar, Sandha, Pona, and Kaliganga rivers to go above the normal level.

Our Jhalakathi correspondent reports: Many farmlands went under water and people of the low income group, particularly labourers and rickshaw pullers, were bearing the brunt of the inclement weather.

Our Pabna correspondent said many roads in Shalgaria, Mujahid club, Mokhtab Bazar, Sahdupara, New Market, Chhatiani, Chakchhatiani,  Court Para, Radhanagar, Jugipara, Noorpour, Talbagan, Library Bazar and Anontabazar areas of the town went under knee-deep water.

The inclement weather caused ferry service disruption at Paturia and Mawa and slowed down or halted traffic on highways. The BIWTA at 4:00pm yesterday suspended all launch services from Sadarghat until further notice.

REASONS FOR WATERLOGGING

Urban planners have time and again pointed out that unplanned urbanisation would result in such an unbearable situation even during usual rain.

They said powerful real estate developers had been allowed to indiscriminately fill the conservable water-retention ponds, canals, and flood plains in and around the capital.

Rain water was supposed to be carried away instantly to those low-lying retention areas with a well-networked storm drainage system but unfortunately even the slope of the existing drainage system was improper, they added. 

Extensive river foreshores around the capital have been filled up and encroached upon by land claimants with the government playing a silent role.

As a result, it takes hours for rainwater to drain, making the lives of city dwellers miserable and causing damage to properties, including vehicles and roads, they said.