Torrential rain for more than six hours yesterday caused immense sufferings to the port city residents, as many low-lying areas went under knee- to waist-deep water.

Commuters had difficulty finding transport to their destinations, as vehicles remained stranded on roads for hours. Many waded through waterlogged roads or took rickshaw-vans to travel.

Poor drainage and waste management systems added to the sufferings of the city dwellers, with many blaming the city corporation for its failure to address waterlogging.

“What's their [city corporation officials'] job? Is it impossible to address waterlogging in the city?” questioned Julekha Begum, who had to wait for more than an hour for a vehicle to go home in the city's Kapasgola area.

She came all the way from her village at Fatehabad in Hathazari upazila on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. But the driver of the auto-rickshaw asked her to get down at Muradpur around 9:30am, as it was impossible for him to move ahead in the thigh-deep water on the road.

Julekha expressed disappointment at the officials of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC).

The heavy rainfall started around 6:00am and continued until around noon. The Patenga Met office recorded 69 millimetres (mm) of rainfall in the city during that time, said Met Officer Sheikh Farid Ahmed.

The areas that went under water include Chawkbazar, Bakalia, Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Sholashahar Gate No 2, Kapasgola, Badurtola, Shulakbahor, Bibirhat, Agrabad CDA Residential Area, Probartak intersection, Katalganj, Bepari Para, Muhuri Para and Halishahar Shantibagh.

Filthy water overflowing from roadside drains entered houses, shops, shopping malls and other business establishments, damaging furniture and goods. Motor vehicles were hardly seen in those areas while a few rickshaws that braved the water charged higher fares.

Tapati Das left her home near the Teachers' Training College in Bakalia in the morning to attend her ailing father at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Though she managed to find a rickshaw, she could not travel more than 600 yards from her home. The rickshaw puller asked her to get down near Chawkbazar Kitchen Market, as the road ahead went under waist-deep water.

Helpless Tapati took shelter on the first floor of a roadside building and waited for another vehicle. “We voted for the present mayor as he promised to address waterlogging in his election manifesto, but now we are frustrated as the situation has not improved,” she told The Daily Star.

Ayub Ali, a shopkeeper, was seen scooping out water with a bucket from his shop on KB Aman Ali Raod in West Bakalia. He said most of the goods, including sugar, flour and rice, of his shop were damaged.

Town Planner Subhash Barua told The Daily Star that waterlogging could be resolved if the authorities were cordial and worked honestly.

“I don't think any effective step has been taken to address waterlogging in the city in the last 22 years,” he said, adding, “There is no proper action plan.”

“As most of the canals in the city have silted up, there is no alternative to excavating new canals to address the problem.”

“Dredging of silted canals as well as the Karnaphuli river should be done properly,” he said, adding, “The canals should immediately be freed from illegal occupation.”

Contacted, Shaibal Das Suman, chairman of CCC standing committee on addressing waterlogging, said the city corporation staff clean the drains regularly, but as the city is surrounded by hills, drains get clogged again with soil when it rains, which is one of the main reasons for waterlogging.

He said the CCC was taking up massive projects, including excavating a new canal to address waterlogging.

WHAT THE MAYOR SAYS

CCC Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin said it was not possible to address waterlogging overnight, as it had been a problem for the last 15 to 20 years.

“It's just the second season after I took office,” he said, adding, “I'm trying to address the problem.”

The Water Development Board had initiated a project to build sluice-gates with pump houses at the mouth of the canals in the city, the mayor said.

“The DPP [Development Project Proposal] of the project has already been sent to the Ministry of Water Resources, and the project work will start once the Ecnec [Executive Committee of the National Economic Council] approves it.”

The CCC and the Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority have taken up a master plan to develop a comprehensive drainage and sewerage system in the city, Nasir said.

The World Bank would finance the project and it would be finalised this month, he added.