Sagar Biswas :Several parts of the capital witnessed severe water logging for the second consecutive day on Wednesday after brief spells of rain throwing life out of gear.Although the pace of rain was less intense yesterday than Tuesday’s downpour, the main thoroughfares and footpaths of Azimpur, Hazaribagh, Shukrabad, Dhanmondi no-27, Green Road, Mirpur Road, Agargaon, Manik Mia Avenue, Farmgate, Bijoy Sarani, Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Shanti Nagar, Rampura, Khilkhet, Kazipara, Shewrapara and some parts of Uttara were submerged since early morning.Met office said, light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely to occur at most places over Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka, Barisal, Khulna, Chittagong & Sylhet division. Heavy to very heavy rain falls expected at places over Rangpur, Barisal, Chittagong & Sylhet divisions and moderately heavy to heavy falls at places elsewhere over the country for few more days. “The rainfall caused by monsoon, may be recessed from Thursday afternoon. The weather may be normal from next Friday,” Met official Arif Hossain said. . The rainfall was recorded 64mm in Dhaka in last 12 hours ended in 6:00pm yesterday. It was 116mm in Hatiya, 170mm in Cox’s Bazar, 119mm in Kutubdia, 158mm in Teknaf and 134mm in Sylhet. There are several areas where road digging by WASA has exaggerated the people’s woes. All the tunnels made by WASA have turned into mud ponds due to incessant rain. The overall situation became hazardous, as the sewerage system in the city failed to control surge of water.Explaining the reasons behind water logging, WASA officials said, the rivers adjacent to Dhaka are now flowing above danger level. For that reason, the rivers cannot pull out the city waters. Even, the water level of drive-out-way through Hatir Jheel has been raised due to heavy rain for last few days.Transportation another trouble. There were fewer vehicles on city roads yesterday as most of the drivers did not come out with their vehicles fearing to get trapped. Hundreds of people were seen standing at different stoppages for long time to get a transport. The home goers and particularly the students were worst sufferers as a small number of buses, mini buses and auto-rickshaws were on the roads.In fact, the commuters found their transports under knee-deep water in many city roads. Several motorised vehicles, including CNG-run three-wheelers were seen stranded on waterlogged roads for hours due to technical fault.Passengers of the rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws had a terrible time as they were charged many times higher than the usual fares. Not only that, traders at different markets had to keep their shops closed as rain water entered the shops damaging goods. In many areas, makeshift shops and other roadside establishments were forced to close down due to rain water.”I live in Mohammadpur, normally 35 minutes away from my office at Dilkhusha; but I get out from my office due to water-logging about one and half an hour before the office time ended,” said Ahmed Hasan Belal, an official of Sonali Bank. Echoing the same, Abdur Rahman, a resident of Pallabi, said that he faced serious problem to go to his office at Hazaribagh due to water logging.On the other hand, the scenario was all the same in the city’s kitchen markets, where it was almost impossible to buy any good as the shops were submerged.At the same time, the prices of vegetables and pulses have also shot up after rain damaged hundreds of hectares of standing vegetable crops across the country, putting enormous strain on household budgets.Consumers will have to pay more for almost all types of pulses over the next few weeks. Rain in northern, central and western parts of the country has caused widespread damage to crops in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and three hilly districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari.Rainy weather not only affected production but also the quality of agricultural produce, besides hampering movement of supplies exacerbating the situation and pushing up prices of essentials, according to traders.
