News Desk : dhakamirror.com
Just 11mm of rain in three hours was enough to flood many of the low-lying areas in the town of Chottogram today.
The rain at 12:00 and 3:00 pm flooded Muradpur, Sholashahar Gate No.2, Agrabad, Chawkbazar, Bakalia, Halishahar and Bahaddarhat, Badurtola, DC Road, Dampara, Reaz Uddin Bazar and Amtol areas under knee to waist deep water.
In Amtol area, some vehicles got stuck in knee-deep water causing traffic jams on the adjacent roads. Water entered into the ground floor of Golam Rasul Market causing immense suffering not only to the shopkeepers but also to the shoppers.
Water also inundated the road in front of Bangladesh Mahila Samiti Balika Uchcha Bidyalay in the Dampara area.
Rickshaw puller Babu Das was pushing his three-wheeler through a flooded road in Sholashahar Gate No. 2 area. He broke his vehicle’s wheel clashing with an underwater object while paddling through knee-deep water.
“I don’t know how I will buy my family’s daily essentials today,” he said while returning the rickshaw to a garage.
Tanima Akter went to Reaz Uddin Bazar for shopping. As the road went underwater, she had to walk through filthy waters overflowing from the roadside drains.
“All these clogged drains are causing immense suffering to pedestrians and commuters,” she said, referring to the above ankle-high thick, smelling water through which she was wading through.
Contacted, Uzzwal Kanti Paul, assistant met officer at Chattogram Met Office, said they recorded 11 mm rain from 12:00 noon to 3:00pm.
“As the monsoon wind is active in the area, there is a chance of more rain in the next 48 hours in Chattogram,” he said.
Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) has been implementing a mega project to address waterlogging in the port city.
Contacted, CDA chief Engineer Hasan Bin Shams admitted waterlogging in some low-lying areas as the drains in the areas were blocked.
He, however, said those drains were not under the jurisdiction of the CDA mega project.
The Conservancy Department of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) cleans the drains and canals that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the CDA mega project.
The Daily Star tried to reach out to CCC Chief Conservancy Officer Abul Hashem and his deputy Morshedul Alam Chowdhury. They didn’t receive calls despite repeated attempts.
– Input from The Daily Star was used in this article.
