The month of Shrabon, the second and last month of the rainy season on the Bangla calendar, ended on Tuesday last. Rains are, however, still there and they will continue for another one to two months at regular intervals. Thus the monsoon (Barsah ritu) starts in mid-June or Pahela Ashar, the first day of the Bangla month of Ashar, and lasts up to October. In other words, it overlaps autumn or Sharat ritu, which consists of the Bangla months of Bhadra and Aswin. It is not unusual as the traditional season cycle has gradually changed over the decades due to global warming. So, people in Bangladesh are accustomed to the light and heavy rain for four to five months every year.
Longitudinal rain may lead to floods, landslides, soil erosion, crop damage and road accidents. Diseases like cholera, dysentery, malaria and dengue also break out in the rainy season. Human beings have no control of rains and so have to accept it as a normal thing. Nevertheless, it is possible to take various steps to minimise its damage if rain proves threatening. Given the choice between no rain at all and excessive rains, the latter will be preferred. Rainfalls are increasingly becoming sparse and they prove a blessing when the world stays parched for months.
Urban people now seem to be uncomfortable with rains as they find it difficult to move and do their work smoothly. Rain disrupts routine life because it causes water logging. However it is not rain but unplanned urbanisation is to blame. Over the years, Dhaka and other major cities in the country witnessed a big spree in the construction of sprawling and high-rise residential and commercial buildings and physical infrastructure like extended roads and flyovers. Lowlands and water bodies have been filled up without considering the consequences, only to accommodate the growing demand for housing. The drainage system has also been ignored. The outcome is prolonged water logging after rains.
Due to frequent water logging in the rainy season, urban inhabitants now think it would be better if there is less rain. Some even want no rain and obviously out of despair as they see how the authorities have miserably failed to address the water-logging problem year after year. An effective drainage system is almost absent in a city like Dhaka, Chottogram or Narayanganj, where water logging is a regular thing.
The endemic problem of water logging is thus a reflection of the failure to adjust and live with rain. Unfortunately, the country's development plan has largely ignored a critical natural phenomenon like rain. Many residential units, office buildings, educational institutions and hotels do not have adequate spaces to keep umbrellas and raincoats for visitors during the rainy season. The rainwater harvesting system is also absent. A simple technology is used to conserve rainwater by collecting, storing, conveying and purifying rainwater that runs off rooftops, roads and open grounds. The water can be used for washing, cleaning, bathing and even cooking.
Although eulogised and greeted through recitation of poetry, rendering of songs, music and performance of dance, the rainy season is no longer as welcome as it was to Kalidas and Rabindranath. The failure to adjust to rains has already brought many troubles and these may intensity further in the future because of inadequate capacity for adjustment.
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