Take urgent stock of the impact of El Nino on our agriculture
The fact of the matter was this: the poem had been written, the call had been answered, and as lofty as it sounds—at that moment there I was, as Frank O'Hara put aptly—"the center of all beauty! / writing these poems!/ Imagine!".
People living in climate-vulnerable areas urgently need government support
Met office records 30 milimetre rainfalls as a nor’wester with hailstorm lashes Dhaka on the first day of Bangla new year, Pahela Baishakh.
As the monsoon month Ashar comes to an end, Dhaka dwellers wake up to waterlogged roads, after the capital sees a record 103mm rain in the last 24hrs till 9:00am.
Waterlogging in Dhaka has become a common problem during monsoon. Rainwater is carried through natural canals and large concrete pipes to flood plains and rivers, but as most of the canals have been grabbed by the encroachers or clogged with solid wastes, the city streets are submerged even after a little rain.
A record-breaking rainfall last October has turned the Death Valley, one of the driest and hottest places on Earth, into a sea of yellow.
Even the areas of Dhaka with a well equipped sewerage system that usually do not get waterlogged due to rain were inundated yesterday as rainfall exceeded normal levels.
The Met office says it hasn't seen such erratic pattern of monsoon, which has caused about 40 percent more rainfall this year than the average recorded over the last 10 years. 'Climatic change has caused a spike in variability,' says a top weather expert.
Barely an hour’s rain brings Dhaka to its knees thanks to the dysfunctional drainage system of the capital city. Majority of the rainfall came around noon, and continued up to 3:00pm.
Ongoing moderate rainfall with gusty wind is likely to continue till tomorrow in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, according to Dhaka met office forecast.
After a slight relapse, the seasonal downpour is expected to come down heavier in the coming days in Dhaka and most places of the country.
Just several hours of rain cripples the life in Dhaka as different parts of the capital went under ankle to knee-deep water, thanks to poor drainage system.
Different parts of the country including Dhaka and Chittagong may experience heavy rainfall with thunder showers in the next 24 hours.
The intensity of rainfall across the country is likely to come down from tomorrow.