Downpour, gridlock cripple city life

Heavy rainfall inundated many areas in the city on Monday, causing severe traffic congestion on roads and streets.

The city witnessed 20 millimetres (mm) of rainfall from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm on the day, of which 18mm was recorded just in between 12:00 noon and 2:30 pm, meteorologist Md Shahinul Islam told the FE.

Roads and lanes in Motijheel, Nayapaltan, Rajarbagh, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Karwan Bazar, Green Road, Monipuripara, Kazipara, Senpara Parbata, Begum Rokeya Sarani, Jurain, Jatrabari, and many low-lying areas were waterlogged for hours due to rain.

The situation worsened further due to the ongoing work on Dhaka metro rail and many other utility works by the city corporations and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA).

City dwellers especially students, their parents and office-goers suffered a lot as vehicles were stuck on roads for hours. They also suffered due to shortage of vehicles.

Muntajir Hossain Ripon, a garment factory official, told the FE that he went to Mirpur Section-1 from Uttara on the day to buy yarns.

"It took me three hours to reach the destination due to waterlogging and traffic congestion especially from Jasim Uddin Road to Airport and Kalshi to Mirpur Section-10," he said.

Many commuters were seen waiting for public transport to reach their destinations in the afternoon.

Md Akhter Zaman, an employee of a private insurance company, was waiting for a bus for more than one hour at Motijheel to reach his Mohammadpur residence.

He told the FE that the poor drainage system was causing immense suffering to the city dwellers.

The Met Office forecast that moderate to heavy rainfall might occur in many places over Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Barishal and Khulna divisions and few places over Rangpur, Rajshahi and Mymensingh divisions in next 24 hours from Monday evening.

The monsoon is fairly active over Bangladesh as well as over the North Bay, said the Met Office.

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