After several hours of rainfall since Thursday evening, streets and alleys in the capital were still waterlogged even into Friday afternoon. Although quick response teams of both city corporations in Dhaka worked diligently to alleviate the problem, several areas in the capital still had ankle-deep or even more water accumulated on their streets.
Additionally, in Old Dhaka and several other areas, there was waterlogging both outdoors and inside homes, leading to suffering for residents.
On Friday afternoon, waterlogging was evident in locations such as New Market, Azimpur, Dhaka University, Anandabazar, Gulistan and Green Road. Some places had ankle-deep water, while other areas had even worse conditions.
While the quick response teams were present in some areas, there seemed to be a shortage of available workers.
During the afternoon, it looked like there were flowing streams on the road next to Salimullah Muslim Hall of Dhaka University. Thousands of students were stuck in their dormitories because of the flooding. Additionally, rainwater had entered the Social Welfare and Research Institute of the university and nearby halls, trapping students inside their dorms.
In Azimpur, various streets, shops and ground floors of houses were also witnessing attempts to drain the water. However, despite valiant efforts, there was no relief.
Lalbagh resident Sakhaowat Ali said: "After last night's rainfall, water started entering our homes in the middle of the night. Various attempts to block the flow of water proved unsuccessful. After the rain stopped, we used small buckets to try to drain the water from our homes."
Shah Alam Khokon, a grocery shop owner in the same area, said: “At least Tk5,00,000 worth of groceries were wet due to water entering the shop. Despite many attempts, we had to throw away many items because they could not remove the water.”
A visit to New Market showed that there was still waist-high water inside and outside the market. There was also water on Mirpur Road. Water had not receded in the area from Zigatola to New Market till noon. Rainwater had entered almost every shop, and about half of them were underwater.
Dhaka South City Corporation Public Relations Department said their quick response team has been working in the field since last night, and they have cancelled employee leaves, even though it is a general holiday on Friday.
The department asked locals to dial 16106 if they saw water buildup, and both city corporations sought help of residents to address the waterlogging problem.