Chattogram waterlogged again after 167mm rain

Chattogram city was again submerged as 167mm of rain was recorded in the past 24 hours till 9am today (17 August), disrupting traffic and causing widespread suffering for commuters, students, office-goers and pedestrians.

Low-lying roads and alleys went underwater following continuous rain from the morning. Areas including Halishahar, Kataltganj, Hamzarbagh, Muradpur, Bibirhat, Sunnia Madrasah Road, Chawkbazar, Kapasgola, Reazuddin Bazar, Jamalkhan and Nupur Market were affected.

In some areas, water rose to knee level or higher, making movement difficult and disrupting normal traffic.

Abdur Rahman Khan, deputy director of the Chattogram Patenga Meteorological Office, told TBS that 81mm of rain was recorded between 6am and 9am on Monday. The city received 167mm in the preceding 24 hours, and rain was still continuing.

Public transport became scarce on major roads due to the rain, worsening commuters' woes. Taking advantage of the situation, some rickshaw and small-vehicle drivers were charging several times the usual fares.

"Water has accumulated in front of my house. My office won't understand this; I must go," said Md Ashraful Alam, a private jobholder from Bibirhat. "I paid Tk40 for a rickshaw ride that normally costs Tk20. There seems to be no end to our suffering."

At Hamzarbagh, office-goer Azgar Ali said vehicles were in short supply, with passengers rushing to board whenever one arrived. Waterlogging was also making movement difficult.

Water also entered shops at Nupur Market in the New Market area, damaging books. Traders feared further losses if the water remained stagnant for long.

Attempts to contact Chattogram City Corporation Chief Conservancy Officer Captain Ikhtiar Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury for comments on the drainage measures were unsuccessful.

Ahmed Moinuddin, executive engineer and project director of the Chattogram Development Authority's waterlogging mitigation project, said he was outside Chattogram and suggested contacting the Army project director for details.

Meanwhile, the maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep local cautionary signal No. 3 hoisted as a well-marked low over the Northwest Bay and adjoining coastal areas intensified into a monsoon depression.

The depression now lies over the southwestern part of the Bangladesh-West Bengal coast and adjoining Northwest Bay, according to a Met Office bulletin issued yesterday morning.

It is likely to move further northwestwards, the bulletin said.