Heavy rain brings city traffic to grinding halt

Heavy downpour coupled with water-logging caused severe traffic gridlock on most key streets in the capital Sunday, mounting sufferings of commuters and disrupting trading activities.
The Bangladesh Secretariat which is considered as the government's nervous system also went under knee-deep water.   
Ground floors of hundreds of bank, insurance and courier service offices in key commercial areas were waterlogged, hampering their trading activities seriously.
Heavy rain along with a rush of cattle-laden trucks, home-goers and regular commuters paralysed traffic in the capital.
City dwellers suffered a lot as it took hours to reach a short distance of 20-25 minutes.  
Different areas including Mirpur, Agargaon, Farmgate, Karwanbazar, Mohammadpur, Adabar, Dhanmondi, New Market, Badda, Green Road, Eskaton, Shahjahanpur, Rajarbagh, Malibagh, Mouchak, Shantinagar, Khilgaon, Mugda, Kamalapur, Arambagh, Bakshibazar, Bangshal, Demra, Shanir Akhra and Jatrabari were inundated due to heavy rain.  
According to the Met Office, 38mm rainfall was recorded in Dhaka from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm Sunday. Also, 56mm rainfall was recorded in the city in last 36 hours until 6:00 am on Sunday.
Rain may continue for a couple of days due to a depression over the Bay of Bengal, Met Office said.
However, main city streets were submerged by rainwater due to the poor drainage system, making traffic gridlock worse. Heavy rain brought traffic to a halt till filing of this report at 7:30 pm.
City dwellers also experienced severe traffic jam on the first day of this month due to heavy rain.  
The city usually faces traffic jam, but it became unbearable when Dhaka witnesses water-logging even after 30mm rain.
Besides, it was very difficult for traffic department to manage traffic which took a turn for the worse due to stagnant water, potholed roads and construction works of flyovers.
However, thousands of people were caught in gridlock on Sunday. They had to wait for hours to get on public buses as slow movement of vehicles caused a scarcity of transports.
Parents along with their schoolchildren, office-goers, street vendors, pedestrians, businessmen failed to reach their destinations while many missed their scheduled tasks.
Traffic officials were seen standing helpless on key roads. Even the lanes were also jammed by vehicles when commoners tried to avoid key streets.
Arafat Ara, a journalist, told the FE that it took her nearly three hours to reach the office at Purana Paltan from her residence at Banasree when it normally takes 30-40 minutes.
"I've come to the office partly by bus and partly by rickshaw and the rest on foot," said Ms Ara.
Md Rabiul Islam Manik, an employee of an advertising agency, said it took him four hours to reach Motijheel from Mirpur-11 when it takes only one and half hours normally.
Elderly people, patients and children were the worst sufferers.
Many commuters claimed that traffic personnel stopped buses at Banani. They prevented bus drivers from entering the city which put commuters in a peril. The number of CNG-run auto-rickshaws was also comparatively less which mounted their sufferings.
Joint commissioner (Traffic Police) Banaj Kanti Majumder said water-logging with rush of cattle-laden trucks, jam of inter-district buses in city's exit points and out of order of many vehicles during rainfall made the situation worse.
He said inter-district buses were banned to enter the city following traffic congestion.
However, Mr Banaj Kanti Majumder said Abdullahpur to Motijheel via Farmgate and Mohakhali; Uttara-Kuril-Badda-Malibagh, Mirpur-Gulisthan-Jatrabari, Mirpur-Azimpur and routes linking Gulshan Avenue and Khilgaon witnessed traffic congestion.
But the FE correspondent found that hundreds of offices including banks, insurance offices, courier service and travel agencies in Motijheel were submerged by rainwater.
Ground floors of most offices from Dainik Bangla crossing to Shapla Chattar went under knee to waist-deep water that halted their daily activities.
Downpour also disrupted cattle trading, although it is a peak hour for sale four days ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Rain caused 'fear' among cattle traders as they feel that such rainfall might hamper selling of sacrificial animals if it rains every day till Eid.
"I expected to sell at least a single cow today (Sunday). But I could not do it due to rain," Md Moniruddin, a trader who came from Sirajganj, told the FE at Kamalapur cattle market.   
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