Rain renders life, business crippled

Intermittent heavy rain crippled life and business across the country while flashfloods left many virtually marooned in coastal belts and low-lying areas around the capital for the last few days.      
Reports say at least 10 lives were lost in sudden flood onslaughts and landslides triggered by downpour in seaside Cox's Bazar and Bandarban hill district.
As the heavens opened, sending down incessant and intermittent rain, a damper was cast on Eid shopping in the capital as well as across the country.          
There is no good news for the city-dwellers and the countrymen as yet. They, according to weathermen, have to wait until Monday as heavy rain powered by active monsoon is likely to continue until Sunday.
"The ongoing monsoon rain will continue in all parts of the country until Sunday. And from Monday sunny day may appear in the capital and some other areas of the country," said a Met official.
However, the raining may continue until Tuesday in the worst-hit Chittagong, Barisal and Khulna divisions.     
"The heavy rain powered by the southwest monsoon is likely to continue until Sunday in the capital and other parts of the country," Bazlur Rashid, a meteorologist at the Met office in Dhaka, told the FE on Saturday afternoon.
They had measured until noon Saturday 15 millimetres (mm) rain in the capital while the highest fall was 213mm at Teknaf in Cox's Bazar.
Normal life and business in the capital and other parts of the country has been disrupted due to downpour over the last few days.
Due to persisting precipitation, many areas of the poorly drained capital got waterlogged and people in the low-lying areas of the city remained marooned.
Residents in the submerged areas were passing their days in great anxiety due to shortage of supply of safe drinking water and other necessities, according to firsthand accounts of the situation.    
Many candidates vying for the post of 'auditor' had to suffer a lot to attend the recruitment test as many of them reached the capital amid rain and inclement weather.
Due to shortage of vehicles many candidates were seen trudging to the exam centres on foot along the swamped streets.  
Mirpur, Malibagh, Mugda, Basabo and some areas in the old part of Dhaka witnessed nagging water-logging while many houses and industrial units located in the low-lying areas along Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) embankment went under water.   
"We are facing difficulties to get out of our home due to waterlogged situation. Rainwater and sewage from underground drains mingled together and made the atmosphere filthy," Nargis Akter, a resident of Basabo area, told the FE correspondent.  
Drenched in the rainwater, rickshaw-pullers and CNG three-wheeler autos charged extra fare from the passengers.
Incessant rain triggered landslides and caused death and destruction in Ramu of Cox's Bazar and Bandarban hills Friday-Saturday.
Many areas in Barisal, Chittagong, Chandpur, Jhenaidah and Faridpur have been submerged. Rain has disrupted transport and damaged crops.
The Met office forecast light to medium rain with gusty wind for Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dhaka, Khulna, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions.
Incessant rain might trigger more landslides in Chittagong division, the met office has alerted.
Meanwhile, local administration continues evacuating people from vulnerable areas nearby hills, many of which are denuded and prone to mudslide.        
Thousands have been marooned in foothills of Ramu, Teknaf, Chakaria, Kalatali, Bazarghata, Laldighi, Jhautola and some other areas of Cox's Bazar and Chittagong amid flooding.
The rain-fed flashflood in Cox's Bazar continued to deteriorate.
The raining has caused difficulties to vehicular movement as some of the roads in Chittagong, Comilla, Chandpur, Faridpur and Jhenidah got submerged with potholes created all along.
The river waters of Kangsha, Sangu and Matamuhuri were flowing above the danger level between 17 centimetres and 163 centimetres.
Government's flood-forecasting agency said 46 rivers marked rise amid swirling flows of rainwater while 34 registered decrease.
"Five of the rivers were flowing above the danger level," said the flood forecasting and warning centre.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com