Rain to reign for two more days

With many low-lying areas of Moulvibazar, Sherpur and Barisal districts submerged with rainwater and water from hilly areas in the upstream, the Dhaka Met Office yesterday said heavy rainfall might occur in many parts of the country today and tomorrow.

“Due to frequent thunderstorm activities, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at places over Mymensingh, Sylhet, Dhaka, Barisal and Chittagong divisions on April 22-24. Due to very heavy rainfall, landslide may occur at places over the hilly regions of Chittagong and Sylhet divisions,” said a bulletin of the Met office.

The maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal number 3, while the inland river ports have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal number 2, Abul Kalam Mallik, meteorologist of Dhaka Met Office, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said most areas of the country witnessed moderate to heavy rain from 6:00am to noon yesterday.

In Dhaka, commuters faced a tough time to reach their destinations due to morning rain. Several city streets, including those in Ganaktuli, Hazaribagh and Shantinagar, went under ankle- to knee-deep water, leaving commuters in trouble.

In Moulvibazar, downpours coupled with onrush of water from the hilly areas in the upstream triggered flashfloods in Kamalganj upazila in the last two days, leaving around 300 families marooned.

Surging water breached the Gupalnagar and Kunagaon embankments on the Dhalai river at many places in the upazila a few days ago. About 2,000 more families would be marooned if the river swells further, said locals and upazila administration officials.

Flashfloods left 23 dykes in the upazila at risk of developing breaches. However, a Water Development Board (WDB) official said they were yet to get budget for repairing the vulnerable points.

Abdul Hannan, chairman of Islampur union parishad, said floodwater submerged many areas of his union and around 1,000 people were already hit by the deluge.

Eight dykes in the union were at risk of developing breaches and the WDB was informed about it, said the chairman, adding that the officials visited the areas, but didn't take any action.

Jewel Ahmed, mayor of Kamalganj Municipality, said 300 families were already marooned by rising flood water. Several thousand families living on the river banks feared they would lose their farmland and homesteads, he added.

Bijoy Indro Sankar Chowdhury, executive engineer of Moulvibazar WDB, said they had no budget for repairing the dykes on the Dhalai. 

In Sherpur, low-laying areas of some 30 villages in Jhenaigati upazila went under water due to heavy rain and onrush of water from India's Meghalaya since Friday night.

Locals and upazila administration sources said flashfloods damaged the embankment on the Maharashi river near Ramerkura area. The Jhenaigati Bazar area was submerged under water.

Korban Ali, upazila agriculture officer, yesterday said boro crop on about 2,500 acres of land went under water.

In Barisal, many areas in the divisional city went under water due to downpour from Friday night till yesterday morning.

The Barisal Met office recorded 73.8 mm rainfall in 24 hours till yesterday noon.

Rainwater inundated Sadar Road, Jibanananda Das Road, Sree Nath Chatterjee Road, College Road, College Avenue, Palashpur, Kawnia and Bangladesh Bank areas in the city.

Water entered many houses and shops, schools and coaching centres. Residents were busy scooping out water with buckets from their homes.  Some schools were forced to postpone classes yesterday.

Dipok Lal Mridha, conservancy officer of Barisal City Corporation, said they were trying to address waterlogging, but could not do much due to adverse weather conditions.  

Meanwhile, the Barisal river port authority yesterday suspended operation of small launch (under 65 feet long) services until further notice.

Our correspondents in Moulvibazar, Sherpur and Barisal contributed to this report.