Relentless monsoon rain brought parts of Dhaka to a standstill on Friday while worsening floods and landslide risks across several districts, prompting fresh warnings from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) that heavy rainfall is likely to continue for at least two more days.
The capital experienced widespread waterlogging after hours of continuous rain from Friday morning, disrupting traffic, delaying commuters and leaving many roads partially submerged.
At the same time, flash floods, landslides and transport disruptions continued to affect large parts of the country, particularly Chittagong and the surrounding hill districts.
Major roads and neighbourhoods, including Motijheel, Nayapaltan, Mirpur and Karwan Bazar, went under water, forcing vehicles to move slowly and triggering long traffic queues across the city.
Thousands of office-goers, students and daily commuters struggled to reach their destinations as many roads became impassable.
Rickshaw and CNG drivers demanded higher-than-usual fares, while many pedestrians were forced to wade through dirty floodwater mixed with overflowing drains and roadside waste.
Meteorologists attributed the prolonged rainfall to an active monsoon system that has persisted across the country over the past five days.
“The rainfall initially developed due to a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal, but the active monsoon is now driving widespread rain across Bangladesh,” meteorologist Kazi Jebunnesa said.
She said heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely in many parts of the country on Friday, with intermittent rain expected in the capital.
According to the BMD, rainfall between 44 and 88 millimetres is classified as heavy, while anything above 88 millimetres is considered very heavy.
The country’s highest rainfall during the past 24 hours was recorded in Chittagong, where 214 millimetres fell between 6am Thursday and 6am Friday.
Dhaka recorded 15 millimetres between 6am and 9am Friday, although rainfall continued throughout the day.
Meteorologist Md Omar Faruk said rain is expected across almost the entire country, with Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions likely to receive the heaviest downpours.