Rainwater plagues port city
Heavy rainfall for the last two days creates waterlogging in the low-lying parts of Chittagong city, causing disruption in the everyday life of the city dwellers. The photo was taken in Muradpur area yesterday.Photo: STAR
Almost a third of Chittagong city has been crippled by rainwater due to heavy downpour over the last two days since early Thursday. Streets, shopping centres have gone under knee-deep water, and houses were flooded, causing untold sufferings to the city dwellers. The waterlogging, as earlier, was widely blamed on poor sewerage system of the port city. Meanwhile, a man died yesterday as he came in contact with a live electric wire buried under the knee-deep rainwater in Chawk Bazar Kitchen Market. The deceased was Manik Debnath, 45, a tailor and resident of Abu Colony in Chawk Bazar area. Manik's shell-shocked widow Nipu Debnath did not know her husband would never return home and be dead only in 30 minutes after he stepped out of the doors to buy some fish and vegetables from the kitchen market. Manik was the only bread earner of his five-member family, including his wife and three young children between two and 10 years of age. He had been rescued and taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital soon after the electrocution, but he was already dead on the way. Meanwhile, Chittagong sea port was advised to hoist cautionary signal no-3 and the river ports to hoist cautionary signal no-2, said Shariful Newaz Kabir, deputy forecasting officer of Chittagong Divisional Met Office. The Met office has recorded 277 millimetres of rainfall in the last 24 hours till 9:00am yesterday, he told The Daily Star. The intensity of the downpour will reduce but the raining may continue for the next 24 hours till this morning, according to the Met office forecast. Yesterday, vehicles hardly plied the submerged streets at Bakalia, Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Badurtala, Kapashgola, Katalganj, Halishahar, Agrabad, Boubazar, Dewan Bazar, Oxygen More, KB Aman Ali Road, DC Road, Bayezid area, Bara Dighir Par, Prabartak intersection, Mehedibag and Chawk Bazar. Heavy disruption of traffic movement in Muradpur and Bahaddarhat intersections caused immense suffering to travellers to and from Rangamati, Khagrarchhari, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban and different upazilas of Chittagong. Flooding of houses and shops in the areas only aggravated people's suffering. The poor drainage system has failed to remove the rainwater, which eventually overflowed and entered a number of houses and shops in those places. Keshab Nath, a laundryman, was seen bailing out water from his shop in DC Road area. All of the clothes at his shop got drenched in the muddy water. A student of Chittagong College and resident of Katalganj area, Ripa Ahsan had to wade through knee-deep water to go to her coaching centre. She expressed her disappointment at the poor drainage system and repeated waterlogging of the port city. “The authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to our sufferings,” Ripa told The Daily Star. A resident of Halishahar area, Dipak Chowdhury echoed Ripa and questioned the role of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) regarding its steps to solve the persisting waterlogging problem. “The city corporation is blind to our sufferings. The CCC officials are not sincere enough to address the problem,” said Dipak, who was walking in the filthy sewage water, to buy some emergency medicines. Activities at Chittagong Port were also hampered by the torrential rain. Unloading of 22 bulk cargo ships at the outer anchorage was stalled due to the rain, said Jahurul Kadir, an official of Chittagong Port Authority. Although the city dwellers blamed the city corporation for the waterlogging, the officials were playing their old record regarding the drainage management. “Despite many limitations, the CCC is working to address the waterlogging problem of the city,” said Bijay Kumar Chowdhury, a councillor and chairman of the CCC standing committee on waterlogging. The city corporation cannot continue many of its development works due to fund constraint, he said. “Chittagong is a hilly area and hence the drains are blocked through earth washed down with rainwater from the hills making the task of drainage management even more difficult.” It is not possible to clear the sewers instantly with the present manpower of the city corporation, he said. Under present rules, it is not possible to appoint more staff either, he added. The councillor said the city corporation alone could not address the problem. Rather it will require coordination among Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Chittagong Development Authority and the CCC, he said.
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