Staff Reporter :
Thousands of commuters got stuck on Tuesday as a serious gridlock was created on different city thoroughfares due to heavy rainfall, causing immense sufferings to them.
The torrential rain left the capital’s traffic in complete chaos as all the major streets, lanes and by-lanes went under knee-deep water. The traffic congestions lasted for longer periods compared to other rainy days as many vehicles went out of order in the waterlogged roads.
Vehicular movement came to almost a complete halt on Mirpur Road, Panthapath and on some other roads in Moghbazar and Malibagh areas for most of the day while traffic system also collapsed on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue stretching from Shahbagh to Mohakhali and Banani.
Many areas like Pallabi, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Shantinagar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Karwan Bazar and Jatrabari were submerged due to the downpour. The worst water logging was created on Kalshi Road in front of Journalists Housing Society at Mirpur.
Vehicles were seen moving slowly on the streets and commuters got stuck in long tailbacks for hours together in different areas, including Mirpur, Rokeya Sharani, Airport Road and Tejgaon, Gulshan, Badda and Baridhara.
Meanwhile, the Met office recorded 44 mm of rainfall in the capital from 6:00am to 3:00pm.
Apart from this, the construction work on the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover has left the roads stretching from Shaatrastha crossing to Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh and Banglamotor intersections in a mess, aggravating the public plight.
As a result, commuters have to face facing unbearable misery while travelling through roads connecting Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Shantinagar, Eskaton, Dilu Road, Siddheshwari, Shaatrasta and Rampura as the roads are riddled with huge potholes.
There is virtually no street which has smooth carpeting and no holes and cracks.
While visiting the city roads this correspondent found that heavy downpour in the last few days has made roads inundated by rain waters and rugged further creating obstacles for drivers to ply their vehicles on almost all the routes in the city.
One of the worst traffic congestion was experienced on the Banani, Gulshan and Baridhara roads, especially the Gulshan and Kamal Ataturk Avenues on Tuesday.
Taking the advantage of inclement weather, rickshaw-pullers and auto-rickshaw drivers charged excessive fares from the passengers.
Meanwhile, the flood worsened further in some northern districts due to incessant rainfall over the last couple of days as well as onrush of hilly water from the upstream. It also severely hit the country’s north-eastern part.
According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), the flood is heading towards Dhaka, as water level in the rivers around the capital city was in rising trend. The flash flood is also going to severely hit south-eastern part of the country, including Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Khagrachhari, today (Wednesday).
A teenaged girl was buried in landslide triggered by heavy rainfall in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday.
Fresh areas of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrakona, Shariatpur, Sirajganj, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Bhola, Satkhira and some other parts of the country went under floodwater on Tuesday. Several lakh people have been marooned in the flood. The people of the districts are facing untold miseries. The flood-hit poor people in the districts did not receive any relief materials. They are looking for dry food and pure drinking water.
Thousands of hectres of lands of newly transplanted Ropa Aman and vegetable field went under floodwater. The supply of vegetable is also being hampered adversely.
The FFWC forecasts that the flood situation may continue for two to three days while it may worsen further in the affected districts. The flash flood may affect fresh areas in Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Khagrachari and some other parts of country due to heavy rainfall.
Talking to The New Nation on Tuesday, Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, Sub-Divisional Engineer and Duty Officer of the FFWC, said that the overall flood situation in the country may deteriorate in the next 48 hours, as most of the country’s major rivers were in rising trend.
The Brahmaputra, the Padma, the Meghna, the Jamuna, the Teesta, the Dharla, the Atrai, the Surma, the Kushiyara and other major rivers were flowing above the danger level in at least 26 points on Tuesday which was 20 on Monday. The rising trend may likely to continue for two to three days, he said.
