After the incessant shower that started from Sunday night and continued until on Wednesday afternoon, almost the entire Dhaka city was left paralysed owing to growing waterlogging and severe traffic congestion.
As the downpour intensified especially since Tuesday night, the waterlogging in parts of the capital worsened drastically, making its poor traffic management system even more deteriorating.
The situation turned so worse thatmany roads went under knee-deep water in most areas, causing the pedestrians to suffer.
On Wednesday morning, passengers, mainly office-goers, were seen stuck for hours inside public transports, let alone the private ones.
The reverse scenario appeared for thousands of others, who were waiting for a transport towards their destination, as they hardly managed to board one. The lack of an adequate number of public transports added to their woes, forcing them to spend hours either looking for a bus or by being stuck in a traffic jam.
Khilgaon, Malibagh, Kamalapur, Naya Paltan, Purana Paltan, Mouchak, Banasri, Green Road, Karwan Bazar, Mugda, Manik Mia Avenue, Basabo, Madartek, Nandipara, Mohammadpur, Badda, Shantinagar, Press Club, Bijoy Nagar, Shewrapara, Rajarbag, Kalabagan, Gulistan, Old Dhaka, Jatrabari, Mohakhali, Banani, and some other busy parts of the city witnessed the gridlock as they were inundated.
Continued downpour even drowned the roads connecting the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and the Secretariat complex.
The Met office recorded 56 millimatres of rainfall between 6:00am and 1:00pm in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department forecast lesser rainfall today (Thursday) as the sun was seen after 1:00pm on Wednesday.
Tired of the gridlock, many suggested that offices and educational institutes be closed temporarily in such a situation.
Sohel Rana, a private job-holder, said he left his Merul Badda’s home for office at Karwan Bazar around 9am and made it there two hours after the regular time.
“Traffic jam ate up two precious hours of my office schedule while it is merely a 15-minute trip from my home to workplace,” he said.
Parvez Hossain, a transport businessman, who travelled from Mirpur to Tikatuli on Wednesday morning, said it took his four-and-a-half hours to reach his destination.
Venting their anger over the situation that has become a common phenomenon, people on social media posted photos of public suffering, heavily criticising the collapsed traffic system.
In one popular Facebook group, the city people were seen posting their queries about the state of traffic and asking the updates.
Around 12:30pm, Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon visited the inundated Sobhanbag-Asad Gate road where people had spend at least two hours to cross the road due to waterlogging and traffic jam.
The road under Jatrabari Flyover of Jatrabari-Shanir Akhra-Chittagong Road route was closed down for five-six hours to evade any accident, as the road was full of potholes and puddles.
Traffic Inspector Nazrul Islam said: “Such waterlogs and traffic jam are now quite common in this city. It is nothing new for us. The city people are being forced to be habituated with this situation.”
Ruhul Amin, a minibus driver, said waterlogging halted people’s normal movement from early morning, but as the day advanced, things started to become normal.
Non-coordinated development works of different service-providing agencies are largely blamed for the waterlogs in the mega city, which has been affected its traffic management system badly for the last few months.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
