Heavy downpour crippled the life in Dhaka as most of the roads, lanes and by-lanes in different parts of the city went under water on Tuesday.
The Met Office recorded a 45.3 millimetre rainfall just in two and a half hours from 12.00 noon to 2.30 pm on the day. It recorded highest 107mm rain at Maizdi Court in Noakhali.
According to weather forecast, moderate to heavy rain is likely to occur in some places over Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions in next 24 hours.
Onrush of water from upstream and heavy rain also caused flooding in some parts of the country, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC).
City dwellers including office-goers, street vendors, students and their parents suffered a lot due to heavy downpour creating severe traffic jam, shortage of vehicles and inundation in places of the capital.
Braving rain, people queuing up for onion sold by TCB at Motijheel in the city on Tuesday
— FE photo
Roads in Rajarbagh, Paltan, Nayapaltan, Motijheel, Karwan Bazar, Mirpur Road, Tejturibazar, Manipuri Para, Kazipara, Senpara, Indira Rood, Jurain and some other parts of Old Dhaka were inundated by rainwater.
Even rainwater entered the first floor of many buildings in some places at Jurain and Green Road.
Buses, cars and three-wheelers haphazardly inched forward throughout the day and many vehicles went out of order.
Traffic policemen, who were manning some important intersections, looked helpless. The situation worsened further due to road renovation and construction works including metro rail in different parts of the city.
Cashing in on the situation, rickshaw-pullers charged high even for a very short distance.
Anisur Rahman, a private jobholder, said it took him three and a half hours to reach his home at Razabazar from Mirpur Section-12. CNG-run auto-rickshaws remained stuck on waterlogged road at Mirpur-10 for hours, causing severe gridlock at 1:00 pm.
People also suffered a lot for shortage of vehicles.
Md Faruk Hossain, an employee of a private bank, said he was waiting for a bus at Puarana Paltan to reach his home at Basila in Mohammadpur.
"I'm waiting here for 40 minutes, but didn't get any bus," said Mr Hossain at 7.30 pm.
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