Staff Reporter :
Dhaka city dwellers suffered on Saturday as a moderate shower submerged many city roads due to the influence of a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal.
The light rain started falling from Friday night and continued till 12:00 noon yesterday. The rain will continue till Sunday, according to officials at the Met office.
Commuters and private office-goers faced problems in reaching their destinations for lack of transport.
It provided a bonanza for the rickshaw peddlers and auto-rickshaw drivers to charge extra-fares from the people returning home from private offices and businesses.
“When there’s monsoon, the city people keep on struggling to commute as most roads are bumpy and potholed. Rain or no rain you must suffer in this dirty city,” Nowsher Ali, a banker, told The New Nation on Saturday.
Many roads and lanes of the capital went under water due to the light rain, causing immense sufferings to people and disrupting their normal activities, and slowing vehicular movement.
The rainwater submerged roads in Mirpur-10, Senpara-Parbata and Kazipara, Rokeya Sarani, Bijoysharani, Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Shantinagar, Kakrail, Sabujbagh, Khilgaon, Merul Badda, Rampura, Motijheel, Shyampur Demra, Mohammadpur and many roads of the old Dhaka.
“A little bit of rain submerges the Tajmahal Road of Mohammadpur and makes life of the dwellers there miserable. Once the road is submerged, it takes the drainage system at least an hour to clear the water,” Kamal Uddin, a resident of the area, said.
Road digging at several places in the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover construction site tormented the travellers most.
Commuters faced unbearable miseries while travelling through the roads connecting Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Shantinagar Eskaton, Dilu Road, Siddheswari, Shaatrasta and Rampura areas as the roads that developed deep potholes due to the construction work of Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover went under water, putting them at risk of accidents.
Saiful Islam, a businessman at Malibagh area said, “During monsoon, the sufferings of the city commuters mount. Even a light to moderate rain causes inundation and huge sufferings for the commuters in the battered city’s thoroughfares, particularly those in Moghbazar, Malibagh and Shantinagar areas.”
Many people were seen wading through filthy water.
Stinks from drains mixed with the stagnant water added to the woes of the pedestrians.
A weather forecasting officer at Chittagong Met office said they recorded 19 millimeters of rainfall in the city until 6:00am on Saturday.
The Met office said rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely to occur at many places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet Divisions.
‘Day and night temperature may fall slightly over the country,’ the Met office said.
Last year the government had declared lightning strikes as natural disasters after 142 were killed by July.
Besides, the maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal No 3 as trough of low lies over the North Bay, and adjoining Southern part of Bangladesh, and West Bengal and adjoining area, said a Met office warning message.
All fishing boats and trawlers over the North Bay have been advised to come close to the coast and proceed with caution until further notice.
