A third of Ctg under water
Heavy rainfall submerged one-third of the port city in knee-deep to waist-deep water yesterday, causing immense sufferings to its dwellers.
Beginning in the wee hours yesterday, the rain came down hard and continued for several hours.
Bishwajit Choudhury, forecasting officer of Chittagong Met Office, said 326.2 millimetres (mm) of rainfall in the city was recorded in 24 hours till 9:00am yesterday.
The rain is likely to continue for couple of more days due to a monsoon wind in the Bay and Chittagong port has been advised to hoist local cautionary signal number 3, he added.
Roads, lanes and bi-lanes in Bakalia, Bahaddarhat, Katalganj, Muradpur, Shulakbahar, Nasirabad, Bayezid, Sholashahar, Chawk Bazar, Halishahar, Agrabad and some other low-lying areas in the city were inundated.
The waterlogging again exposed the poor drainage system in the city.
Visiting these areas, this correspondent witnessed rainwater flooding houses, kitchen markets, slums and the ground floors of most buildings and markets. Residents were seen scooping out water from their houses and shops.
Almost all shops were closed and vehicles did not ply the streets while only a few rickshaws were seen.
Meanwhile, pedestrians and office-goers had to struggle hard to make their way to respective destinations.
"I had to wade through filthy water overflowing from roadside drains to buy medicines for my ailing mother," said Ratan Barua, a resident of Bakalia.
He blamed Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) for their negligence in sewerage management.
“Cleaners had piled up the dirt of the drains along KB Aman Ali Road, but did not take them away for disposal. The filth went back to the drains with the rainwater, choking the drains again and creating waterlogging in the area,” he said.
Ruhul Amin, a laundryman in DC Road area, was seen throwing out water from his shop early in the morning. He said most of the clothes at his shop were spoiled by dirty water.
The waterlogging also brought miseries to the low-income people.
Hasmat Ali, a rickshaw puller of Kapasgola area, said he went out with his battery-run rickshaw in the morning but it went out of order as water damaged the batteries.
When contacted, Shafiqul Mannan Siddique, chief conservancy officer of CCC, however, said there was no waterlogging anywhere in the city.
"The incessant rainfall created all these, but the situation worsened as the monsoon and high tide started together,” he said.
“We have been working since morning to clean the drains from getting clogged,” he added.
Comments