Many of the streets in the Rajshahi city went under water on Friday amid heavy raining throughout the day, suspending traffic and causing immense sufferings to the pedestrians.
The worst affected were the slum dwellers and people living on the roadsides,
especially in the Vadra area of the city.Day labourers were also affected by the rain as those coming from Laxmipur in the morning for work waited for whole day and returned home empty handed.
Small shopkeepers told New Age that their sales were disappointing as they got hardly any buyers because of the inclement weather.
The traffic was thinner than usual with a small number of buses plying the roads, making it a heyday for rickshaw pullers who charged fares at their whims.
Amzad Hossain, who regularly uses rickshaw between Shaheb Bazar and Laxmipur area paying Tk 15-20, said he had to pay Tk 30 to Tk 35 on Friday.
Nusrat Laila, a resident of Shaheb Bazar, said there was water all over the roads because of the rain.
‘Two thirds of the roads went under water in Shabeb Bazar masterpara with pedestrians, particularly women and children, facing difficulties in walking down the roads,’ she added.
The city corporation authorities, however, denied that there was water stagnation and told New Age that they were satisfied with the speed at which the water was receding from the roads.
Sheikh Mamun Dollar, Rajshahi City Corporation chief conservancy officer, told New Age that the water stagnation was not so acute.
He claimed that because of their contingency programme, ‘water was removed from the city roads within two or three hours’.
Admitting that there was water stagnation at some places including ward 17, 18, 20, 24, he also said the water in the areas receded after some time.
-With New Age input
