Sitrang brings rain, rain brings sufferings

Many areas of the capital have been inundated due to continuous rain since the early hours of yesterday. The rainfall, influenced by cyclone Sitrang, brought immense suffering to the city dwellers throughout the day.

The rain was pouring continuously as of filing this report at 8:13pm.  Low-lying areas went underwater, and this made everyone dread their scheduled commute.

According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department, 120 mm of rain was recorded in 12 hours till 6:00pm yesterday.

In the morning, office and school-goers had to struggle to reach their destinations amid the rain. Lack of public transport, and auto-rickshaw drivers and rickshaw-pullers charging extra fares made the situation worse. The heavy wind did not make the situation any better.

Most of them said they had to wait for at least half an hour, if not more to board a public bus.

However, the situation started deteriorating in the evening as most of the commuters got marooned on their way back home.

Md Shahnawaz Khan Chandan, a teacher at Jagannath University, said he started from Sadarghat at 2:00pm and reached Farmgate at 6:30pm, after four hours of a harrowing experience.

He said it almost took two hours for his private car to hustle through the waterlogged narrow streets of Old Dhaka and reach Gulistan area.

"My driver had to repair the car as water entered its engine. However, I had to continue as I had an important meeting. There was no public transport, and all the rickshaws and CNG-run three-wheelers were occupied, while vehicles of the ride-sharing apps were unavailable," he said.

Other commuters shared similar stories when approached by The Daily Star.

Cyclone Sitrang is set to hit Bangladesh between 6:00am and 7:00am today, according to the government and BMD sources.

The Met office has hoisted danger signal 7 in the coastal districts, which may go up to signal 10.