Rain paralyses life in Ctg
Submerges 1/3 of city
Nearly one-third area of the port city yesterday went under water due to heavy downpour, creating havoc for people.
Houses, shops, schools, colleges and business infrastructures in the low-lying areas went under knee to waist-deep water. The city's Chawk Bazar, Bakalia, Kapashgola, Bahaddarhat, CDA Avenue, Halishahar, Badurtala, Patenga, Muradpur, Mohammadpur and Nasirabad areas saw waist-length stagnant water.
The majority of transport remained off the streets and the drainage system in most of the areas flooded, to the added suffering of commuters. People had to wade through thick and filthy water to get to their destinations.
Traffic movement slightly improved in the afternoon when the rain stopped.
The Met office in Chittagong recorded 107.8 millimetre rain in twenty-four hours until 12:00noon yesterday.
The Chittagong Port was advised to hoist signal no 3, said Assistant Met Officer Omar Faruk.
Loading and unloading of cargoes in the port was stopped as importers feared their goods would be damaged by the rain, said Syed Farhad Uddin, secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority.
Hundreds of lighter ships were anchored in the river Karnaphuli due to incessant shower, said port sources.
Chawk Bazar kitchen market had a shortage of supply of meat, fish and vegetables, leading to a price hike of almost all commodities.
Many schools including West Bakalia Govt Primary School, Bangabandhu Govt Model Primary School, Kapashgola City Corporation Girls' High School and College, Bakalia Govt High School, Bachelor of Education College and Meron Sun School and College were submerged by rain water.
As the day was Friday, a holiday, students did not suffer.
Meanwhile, city dwellers held Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) responsible for the water-logging.
Susmita Pal, a second-year honours student of Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College, was going to a coaching centre on foot. She said the CCC did not take any step to address the water-logging problem.
Councillor Bijoy Kumar Chowdhury, also chairman of the standing committee on water-logging of the CCC, however, accused the contractors of drainage management of not working properly.
"I visited many areas in the city and saw the suffering of the people," he said, adding that the CCC has initiated a project to improve the drainage system, under which 500 workers will work every day for three months from November. "We hope the suffering of the city dwellers will lessen after the completion of the project," he noted.
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