People yesterday heading to work through almost waist-deep rainwater on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue in front of Prime Minister's Office. Photo: Amran HossainStaff Correspondent
Incessant heavy rains overnight had most areas in the city reeling under knee-deep water throughout the day yesterday, playing havoc with life and trade.
At least eight people were killed and many injured as they stepped on power cables that had shorted in the driving rain.
The met office said 290 millimeters of rain fell in six hours to 7:00am. It is a record rainfall for the capital in 60 years.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Meteorologists forecast the rain spell will continue till tomorrow.
The torrential pouring that came riding on a low formed in the Bay started at 10:00pm on Monday. Soon it submerged the city streets and alleyways, leaving hundreds of commuters stuck on the ir way home.
The rain accompanied by high winds and thunder snapped power and telephone lines throughout the city. Most of those living on ground floors had to spend a sleepless night as they saw water reach for their beds.
Attendance at the government and private offices was thin yesterday. Shopping malls and other businesses had few shoppers as people remained indoors.
Children in most areas could not go to schools.
Though it meant sufferings for the downscale urbanites, the rain ended long dry spells bordering on drought, much to the relief of the farmers.
The second highest rainfall, 169 millimetres in 24 hours, was recorded in Mongla.
Of those who contacted power lines and died, six including a woman and a baby girl were in the capital and the rest two were in Nalitabari upazila of Sherpur.
Shafiqul Islam, 35, and six-year-old Bristi died in Kafrul, Abdul Kader, 28, in Fakirapul, Jannatul Mawa, 35, in Demra, Shahin in Mohammadpur and Bahar Uddin, 22, in South Kamalpur in Dhaka.
Bodies of Jannatul, Shahin and Bahar have been sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue.
News Agency UNB reports that Nalitabari victims are Azizul Haque, 55, and Muktarunnesa, 65. The two hailed from Kumargati village in Haluaghat upazila under Mymensingh district.
The spectre of the floods that devastated Dhaka in 1988 and 1998 visited the city dwellers as it poured all night.
Commuters had to spend the night outside home as their vehicles could not reach destinations. Many people had to seek safer places as their bedrooms went under ankle- to knee-deep water.
“I spent the night at a garage on Dhanmondi Road No. 27,” said a senior reporter of a newspaper.
“On Dhanmondi Road 27, water leapt up to the seats of the car taking me home. Soon the engine stopped forcing me to take shelter at the garage of a roadside building,” he added.
The road in front of the Prime Minister's Office was under waist-deep water while most other thoroughfares including Manik Mia Avenue, Bijoy Sarani, Darus Salam Road, Airport Road, Mirpur-1, Mirpur Road, Outer Circular Road, Bijoy Nagar and Abdul Ghani Road had a river-like look till morning.
Passengers of the CNG-run auto-rickshaws had a terrible time as the three-wheelers stopped running without notice.
The rickshaws and auto-rickshaws that braved rainwater in the morning charged many times the usual fare.
The manholes or potholes on the roads added to the sufferings as vehicles and pedestrians stumbled on them and fell in water.
People in Mirpur, Malibagh, Shantinagar, Motijheel, Khilgaon, Badda, Basabo, Gulshan, Banani, Azimpur and old Dhaka suffered the most.
The slum dwellers who found their shanties under waist- to knee-deep water by 3:00am had to take shelter in nearby buildings.
FLIGHT CANCELED AT ZIA
Two international flights failed to land at Zia International Airport Monday night because of rain, an official said.
A flight of Malaysian Airlines from Kuala Lumpur and a plane of Dragon Airlines from Hong Kong tried to land but failed.
"The Malaysian flight is scheduled to come again on Tuesday night," said an official from the ZIA.
Other flights left the airport and landed there on schedule, he added.
BUS AND FERRY SERVICES
Hundreds of motorised vehicles, including CNG-run auto-rickshaw, taxicab and private car, had to remain stranded on the waterlogged roads for hours as engines of those vehicles went out of order, causing untold sufferings to people.
Meanwhile, a small number of buses, trucks and other vehicles plied on the city roads yesterday as most of the owners and drivers did not run their vehicles to avoid troubles.
Witnesses said hundreds of thousands of city dwellers suffered a lot due to the lack of transports on the roads.
Besides, buses running on several long routes including Dhaka to Mymensingh, Sirajganj and Tangail had to opt for Gabtoli road instead of the inundated Airport road.
Ferry services on many routes were also suspended, disrupting bus service on highways.
OTHER DISTRICTS
Our correspondents from different districts including Barisal, Khulna, Bagerhat Satkhira, Pabna, Sylhet, Chittagong, Manikganj and Noakhali reported the similar stories.
They said many thatched and mud houses collapsed and flimsy houses were blown away. Many areas plunged into darkness due to heavy rainfall.
Our Chittagong Correspondent reports that normal life came to a halt while economic activities in the port city were hampered yesterday due to heavy rainfall. Loading and unloading of balk cargoes were suspended at the port.
According to the Met office, over 156mm rainfall was recorded in Chittagong city in the last 24 hours till 4.00pm yesterday.
Loading of bulk cargoes remained suspended at different jetties of Chittagong Port and at the outer anchorage for last two days due to incessant rain, said officials of the port.
However, vessel operation remained normal at the port channel, said Chittagong Port Secretary Syed Farhad Uddin Ahmad.
Though there were noticeable impacts of some renovation work at different city canals done by the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), people of many low-lying areas still could not get rid of waterlogging.
Low lying areas like Muradpur, Bahodderhat, Nasirabad, Badurtala, Agrabad CDA Residential area, Agrabad Excess Road and different areas of Halishahar were inundated.
Both the waterlogging and heavy downpour caused remarkable absence of workers in different industrial units disrupting production.
MET OFFICE WARNING
In Dhaka, the Met office recorded 333mm rainfall in 24 hours while they recorded 341mm in September 2004 and similar in 1956.
But this time 290mm rainfall occurred in six hours that created the havoc in the city. The second highest 169mm rainfall was recorded in Mongla in last 24 hours till 7:00am yesterday.
The intensity will come down today, said the on-duty forecasting officer of the meteorological department.
The low formed in the North Bay merged with the monsoon wind and caused such rainfall in the city as well as other parts of the country, the officer added.
DND EMBANKMENT
The low-lying areas inside Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) and Narayanganj-Narsingdi embankments have been inundated due to incessant rainfall, paralysing the life of several thousand families.
The families living inside the dykes are facing immense sufferings because of the waterlogging. The rainwater also has entered many houses and shops.
UNO Motahar Hossain said many schools inside the DND have been closed while industrial sources said most of the 1,000 industrial units inside the DND have suspended their production due to the excessive rainfall.
Though the dwellers of the main town did not experience waterlogging yesterday, the heavy rainfall shattered life there. Many roads went under water due to the rain started from 9:00 pm on Monday. Office-goers getting drenched by rain yesterday reached their respective offices late.
Public life has also been crippled in the low-lying areas of Deobhog, Kashipur, Baburail, Syedpur, Khanpur, Mission Para, Golachipa and Jamtola in the Narayanganj district town.
Rainwater has entered Ramarbagh, Isdair, Kotowalerbagh, Hajiganj, Jalkuri, Godnail, Sidhhirganj, Mijimiji, Paindi, Tatkhana, Bhuiyanpara, Arambagh, Hirajheel, Bhuigarh, Pagla, Delpra, Fatulla, Lamapara, Shibu Market, Sostapur, Lalpur, Kutubail, Lal Khan, Shyampur, Jatrabari and different areas of Demra upazila.
Classes at the schools of these areas have been suspended because of the rainfall.
Water of the Shitalakhya, the Meghna, the Brahmaputra and the Dhaleswari are rising. The district administration apprehended that if the trend of rainfall continues for two to three days, the water level of the rivers would cross the danger mark.
At least 300 dwelling houses and 400 shops and godowns in an underground market inside Narayanganj-Narsingdi dyke of Rupganj have gone under water causing loss of several crores of taka.
Johra Begum, a resident of Lalpur area, said if the incessant rainfall continues for some more days they will have to leave their houses and search for shelter elsewhere.
Joynal Abedin of Ramarbagh area said, though construction work of five culverts on the link road were scheduled to be completed by January, the work has not yet been completed causing waterlogging inside the DND area.
Posts
