Staff Reporter :The nor’wester storm hit several districts in the country on Monday morning, leaving two persons killed in Manikganj and Pabna. In Manikganj, a schoolboy was killed and a girl injured in lightning strike in Bachmara area of Daulatpur upazila. The deceased was identified as Rafiqul Islam, a class X student of a local school. Witnesses said that lightning hit the area around 7:00 am, leaving Rafiqul dead on the spot. The schoolgirl named Mahfuza Akter was also injured in the lighting. At least fifty houses were reportedly damaged, as the nor’wester lashed many areas of the district.In Pabna, an agro labourer was killed at Barashila village under Bera upazila in the lightning strike when he was working in the agro field. The deceased is the son of Zinnat Sheikh of the village. OC of Bera Police Station Shikder Moshiur Rahman confirmed the news. The Nor’wester also hit the capital city, as heavy rainfall inundated different parts of the city in knee-deep water, causing suffering to people. The rain continued for around two hours creating water logging and huge traffic jam.During the rainfall, boundary wall of a under constructed building collapsed at Bijoynogor area after the road, near the wall, was slide. The gas pipeline of the area also ruptured after the wall collapsed on it. A local resident, who lives in the area, said that the wall of the building collapsed because proper precaution was not taken to support the soil while piling.OC of Paltan Police Station Morshed Alam said that the wall near Scout Market collapsed, rupturing the pipeline. Later, the pipeline was repaired by the concerned authorities. However, there was no casualty in the incident. Police blocked the vehicular movement in the area following the incident. The road near the construction site developed cracks in many places creating panic among the local residents about the safety of the buildings in the area. Witnesses said that right beside the collapsed road, a multi-storied building is being constructed by a property developer named ‘Tropical Homes Limited’. Local people alleged that the Tropical Homes has been constructing the multi-storied building at 73, Purana Paltan Lane without taking necessary safety measures. As they did not take appropriate safety measures when digging the soil of the plot for basement, around 80-100 feet road in front of the project cracked. Officials of Fire Brigade visited the spot soon after the incident.The roads of Jurain, Bangshal, Shukrabad, Rajabazar, Green Road, Dhanmondi, Mirpur and some other lower-lying areas in the city went under water following the rainfall. The water logging has exposed the poor drainage system in the city.Commuters, especially students and office goers, suffered a lot due to the water logging, lack of transports and traffic jam. Long tailbacks were created on different roads following the rain ahead of monsoon.”I couldn’t reach my office at Motijheel from Mirpur in two hours due to heavy traffic congestion flowing the rainfall. I couldn’t reach the office on time,” said Nurer Rahman Asif, a resident of Mirpur area. Beginning at about 6:00 am, the rain came down hard after 7:00 am. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, there was 7 millimeters of rainfall in the capital between 6:00 am to 9:00am.The reports of heavy rainfall and nor’wester storm were also reported from Rajbari, Munshiganj, Bhola, Sirajganj, Bogra and some other districts. In Rajbari, the launch movement was stopped for three hours, while the ferry movement was stopped for about an hour at Daulatdia-Paturia route due to the rainfall. The launch and ferry movement was stopped at about 6:00 am. In Munshiganj, at least seven schoolboys and girls were injured in the lighting strike at Banial High School under Ranglabazar union of Sadar Upazila. The injured were admitted to Munshiganj Sadar Hospital. In Bhola, a goods-laden trawler capsized in Meghna River at Tazamuddin Upazila in the district.
