Heavy rain brings blessing, curse for Ctg city residents

Heavy rain in Chittagong city yesterday afternoon was a welcome relief for the residents who saw no rain for almost two months. However, the rain also brought misery as many areas of the city were submerged due to poor drainage system.

The city dwellers had experienced severe heat with no rain for the last two months. According to Chittagong Met Office, the highest temperature during the period was 35 degrees Celsius while the lowest 28.       

The relief was short-lived as after half-an-hour of incessant rain, low lying areas of the city, including Chawkbazar, Bakalia, Kapas Gola, Halishahar, Agrabad, CEPZ Mailer Matha, Prabarttak, Shulak Bahar, Muradpur, Sholoshahar Gate No 2, Katalganj, Dampara, Panchlaish, and Bibirhat, were submerged in knee-deep water. 

Chittagong Met Office recorded 60mm of rainfall at 3:00pm.

Commuters suffered more as motorised vehicles could not ply roads under water creating a shortage of transport.

Jasimuddin of Bakalia said he had to walk through waist-deep filthy water to get to his office.

"The drains were overflowing and I could not manage a rickshaw or other vehicles due to waterlogging," he said grimacing.

Shop owners also suffered as water flooded many stores hampering trading for the day and damaging goods.

An employee of a pharmacy, Tahmid Hossain, said some goods of the shop were damaged by dirty water.

Contacted, Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin said he did not have enough time to excavate all the canals in the city, which would facilitate Chittagong's drainage system.

He said they need a minimum of four months to excavate the canals and mitigate waterlogging.