Nearly half of the port city went under knee-deep water due to heavy downpour for the last two days.
Lakhs of people have been affected by the late monsoon shower that virtually kept them stranded at home for the second day yesterday.
Thick, filthy waters swept through homes for hours, washing away scores of make-shift vegetable, meat and fish shops and parts of other fragile establishments.
Public life came to a complete standstill and businesses were badly affected. Loading and unloading in Chittagong port and trading in Chaktai and Khatunganj wholesale markets were also hampered.
Chittagong Met office recorded 132.4 millimetre (appx 13 centimetres) rain in twenty-four hours till 12:00noon yesterday.
But the rain water clogged the poorly managed drainage system, locals said.
A southwestern monsoon caused the heavy rain fall, Assistant Met officer Nilufer Jahan told The Daily Star. She forecast some light rains throughout the day today. No rain is expected tomorrow.
Areas submerged by the water include Bakalia, Chawk Bazar, Bahaddarhat, Badurtala, Agrabad, Halishahar, the port connecting road, CDA residential area, Dewan Bazar, Shantibag, Lalkhan Bazar, Kapashgola, Shulak Bahar, Chaktai, Khatunganj, Rajakhali and Muradpur.
Those who came out of home found themselves in the middle of nowhere, as there was no transport. Water was waist-high on some roads where movement of all types of engine-run vehicles remained suspended till noon.
Only a few rickshaws were available. A few managed to get those but most people had to walk to their destinations through the dirty water overflowing from the drains.
Traffic movement slightly improved in the evening when the rain stopped.
Meanwhile, city dwellers held the Chittagong City Corporation responsible for their sufferings.
“Every year we have to suffer during the rainy season. The city is becoming unliveable by the day,” said Reaz Uddin who came to Chawk Bazar to buy some meats but did not find any.
Syed Sagir Ahmed, general secretary of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, said they placed a 12-point demand to the city mayor to end their sufferings that recur every year.
Their demands include excavating the Chaktai canal and heightening the level road from Chaktai to Chan Mia Lane.
Councillor of the CCC Bijoy Kumar Chowdhury said the corporation will excavate a canal from Bahaddarhat to Rajakhali to address water logging.
According to him, the last two day’s problem was caused by the heavy downpour that rushed through parts of the city along with tidal water.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
