Port city dwellers suffer due to waterlogging

Most of the areas in the port city of Chattogram went under knee-to-waist deep water today due to incessant downpour since Sunday night causing immense sufferings for the city dwellers.

Abdur Rashid, a 65-year-old caretaker of a residential building at DC Road area, was electrocuted as he went to lift a submerged water pump in the morning, said Sub-Inspector Ariful Islam of Chawkbazar Police Station.  

Chattogram Met Office recorded 187.2 millimetre of rainfalls in 24 hours till 3.00pm today, said Mahmudul Alam, forecasting officer of Chattogram Met Office.

Visiting different areas including Chawk Bazar, KB Aman Ali Road, DC Road, Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Badurtola, Kapasgola, Sholashahar Gate No 2, Proborttak Intersection, Agrabad, Halishahar, Shulak Bahar, Bibirhat, Chandgaon, Dewan Bazar, Chaktai, Khatunganj, Oxygen, Katalganj and Panchlaish Residential Area of the city in the morning, the ground floors of most houses and business establishments were found inundated.

Roads of these areas were found under knee to waist deep water while many people were seen wading through the filthy water and some people were busy to bailout water from their houses, shops and business establishments.

The ground floor of Chattogram Ma Shishu O General Hospital, where the Paediatric Ward and Outdoor of the hospital is located, went under knee deep water forcing the authority to relocate the patients.

Abida Sultana, in-charge of outdoor of the hospital, said water enter into the hospital every year during the monsoon.

Very few motorized vehicles were seen to ply on the roads while rickshaws were seen to carry the passengers but those were insufficient compared to the number of commuters.

A good number of motorised vehicles went inoperative on Port Connecting Road, Prabartak intersection, Chawk Bazar, Bahaddarhat and Muradpur intersections, as water entered into the exhaust pipes.  

Mud washed out by the monsoon from hills shower covered the roads in high areas including the road in front of Chattogram Ideal School, KB Fajlul Quader Road in front of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), OR Nizam Road and Bayezid Bostami Road. Many vehicles were seen stuck in the mud causing sufferings to commuters.

Tamanna Akter, a student of Chittagong College who was coming home from college on foot wading through filthy water at Nawab Sirajuddaullah Road, told The Daily Star “I waited for around an hour for a rickshaw but could not manage.”

Kazal Barua, a retired schoolteacher who was heading for his residence at Bakalia area said, “I could manage a rickshaw after waiting over an hour in Bahaddarhat Intersection but the rickshaw pullers were demanding almost double of the regular fare.”

 “Government has allocated over Tk five thousand crore to address waterlogging in the city but we are witnessing no improvement so far,” he added.

Abdul Aziz, a resident of DC Road, expressed resentment over waterlogging saying, “This year we expected to get rid of water-logging as the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) initiated a mega project but got no result.”

The CDA in cooperation with Bangladesh Army launched a Taka 5616 crore mega project in April last year aiming to mitigate the city's water logging problem which is supposed to be completed in June 2020.

Contacted, Lt Col Abu Sadat Md Tanvir, additional project director, said waterlogging occurred this morning due to high tide during the downpour.

A total of 40 regulators are being installed in the connecting points of the canals with river to regulate the tidal and rain water, he said, adding, of those, three had been installed.

Once all the regulators are installed, the city dwellers would be relieved from waterlogging fully, he added.

Chattogram District Administration evicted 500 families from the risky hill-slopes in the city in the last three days, said Mahmud Ullah Maruf, revenue deputy collector of Chattogram, adding, they were taken to 10 shelter-centre in the city.

“We are conducting campaign through loud speakers in eight hills of the city to avert casualty during probable landslide,” he said.

Meanwhile, two people were buried under mud following a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall in Kaptai upazila of Rangamati today.