Continuous heavy rainfall over the past five days, until Wednesday, has caused extensive waterlogging, leading to significant hardships for residents in various areas of Barisal city and its neighboring low-lying regions.
The persistent waterlogging has forced many educational institutions in the city's low-lying sectors and Sadar upazila to suspend classes.
Water accumulation has been observed in multiple areas, including Rupatali Housing, Battala, Palashpur, Banglabazar, Band Road, and other locations along the city's riverbanks and within slums.
Jewel Sarkar, a resident of Battala area, expressed that heavy rain has resulted in the ground floors of residences sinking, causing considerable disruption to daily life due to waterlogged roads persisting for five days.
Oxford Mission Secondary School in the city has announced class suspension due to the waterlogging, confirmed Polynus Guda, the school's headmaster.
Barisal's senior citizen Manbendra Batabyal lamented that during the period of independence, the city had 22 canals. However, now only three remain, resulting in waterlogging across different areas of Barisal city even with minimal rainfall.
Bashir Ahmed, an official at the Barisal Meteorological Office, stated that there has been continuous rainfall of 316.02 millimeters from August 5-9. The high volume of rainfall this year has caused low-lying areas to be inundated.
Swapan Kumar Das, administrative officer of Barisal City Corporation, reported that additional workers are actively addressing waterlogging issues in lower areas of the city and expect the water levels to recede soon.
In addition to this, waterlogging has disrupted teaching activities in various primary schools in Veduria, Charbaria, and Chandramohan of Sadar upazila, according to Sadar upazila Primary Education Officer Faisal Jamil.
Although the exact numbers are yet to be determined, a substantial portion of the 203 primary schools in this upazila are grappling with waterlogging on their campuses, including within the classrooms.
Meanwhile, waterlogging has led to link-road breakdowns between different departments and student hostels at Government Brojomohun College. Students residing in the hall confirmed that attendance and teaching have been significantly impacted due to this issue.
Hafizur Rahman Rakib, president of the college's branch of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, highlighted that Brojomohun College frequently faces flooding with even minimal rain, causing the entire campus to become waterlogged and hampering regular educational activities.
The non-functioning drainage system has led to consistent waterlogging issues for students, teachers, and employees. Traveling from one section to another within the campus requires wading through knee-deep water, greatly affecting the attendance and engagement of students and staff.