Waterlogging caused by overnight downpour has disrupted the lives of residents in Chattogram and forced the authorities to delay the HSC exams by an hour yesterday.

The exams started at 11:00am, instead of 10:00am, so that students commuting through flooded streets do not miss the tests, officials said.

The Met office recorded 118 mm of rain in 24 hours till 9:00am yesterday, officials said.

HSC student Gazi Tasnim Hasan Muhi said she left her home in Halishahar Shyamoli around 7:45am to reach his exam centre 9km away.

"Many students were waiting for vehicles in knee-deep water. But there was nothing on the road," she said.

After she waited for an hour to find transport, her father arranged a vehicle to take her to the examination centre.

At Kapasgola City Corporation School and College, there was waist-high water in the exam halls on the ground floor. Over 700 students from six colleges were scheduled to sit for examinations there.

Principal Nur Banu Chowdhury said three students were absent yesterday.

The ground floors of most buildings were inundated in the Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Badurtola, Kapasgola, Sholashahar, Probortok, Agrabad, Halishahar, Chawk Bazar, Chaktai, and Khatunganj areas and on KB Aman Ali Road and DC Road.

RECURRING WATERLOGGING

Waterlogging is a perennial problem in the port city. The Chattogram Development Authority has been implementing a project worth Tk 5,617 crore to address waterlogging since 2017.

Lt Col Shah Ali, the project director, told reporters on May 2 that physical work made 76.26 percent progress.

Experts say the project is not benefitting the city dwellers yet.