The overnight drizzle which later turned into a heavy downpour in the morning quickly inundated a number of areas in Chittagong city on Wednesday, causing immense suffering to its dwellers.
The waterlogging left commuters wading through ankle-deep to knee-deep water to reach their destinations as private vehicles and public transport became stranded on roads.
The low-lying areas in the port city, particularly Agrabad CDA residential area, Muradpur, Gate No 2, Bibirhat, Bakalia, Chawkbazar, Agrabad, Halishahar, Kapasgola, Chandgaon, and Jamal Khan road went underwater due to the heavy rain causing immense sufferings to the people living in those areas.
Motor vehicles were hardly seen in those areas while a few rickshaws that braved the water charged higher fares.
Commuters, greatly outnumbering the rickshaws, had to suffer through filthy water from overflowing roadside drains to reach their destination.
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Filthy water overflowing from roadside drains entered houses, shops, shopping malls and other business establishments, damaging furniture and goods.
Waterlogging continues to haunt the residents of the port city as its authorities have so far failed to resolve the protracted problem.
Poor drainage and waste management systems added to the sufferings of the city dwellers, with many blaming the city corporation for its failure to address waterlogging.
Chittagong’s Gate No 2 area on Wednesday, August 25, 2021 Dhaka Tribune
Abdullah Al Baki, a resident of Gate No 2 area, said: “It took me over an hour to reach the GEC Circle this morning, whereas it usually took 10 minutes. The rickshaw-pullers have also hiked the fares there are fewer buses plying on the roads due to waterlogging.”
Idris Ali, a resident of Sholoshohor area, said: “Just one hour of rain is enough to drown the city, and that’s because of the authorities’ negligence. I’ve been waiting here for an hour but no vehicle is available to catch.”
Female office-goers are the worst sufferers as they have to wade through knee-deep water to go to their workplaces.
Also Read - Overnight downpour leaves Chittagong city a flooded mess
In some places, some CNG-run auto-rickshaws went out of order as rainwater entered their exhaust pipes, forcing the drivers to manually push them ahead.
Nasima Akhter, a garment worker, said: “I’ve got stuck here in No-2 Gate area as all the roads have gone under water. More worrying is that the rickshaw-pullers were demanding excess fares taking advantage of the situation.”
The Patenga Met Office recorded 28mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours till 9am on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the city’s Ambagan Met Office recorded 60mm of rainfall during the same time frame.
Sheikh Farid, assistant meteorologist at the Patenga Met Office, said: "The active monsoon triggered the rain, which is likely to continue for another couple of days.”
Chittagong’s Gate No 2 area on Wednesday, August 25, 2021 Dhaka Tribune
Man goes missing after falling into drain
Meanwhile, a man went missing after he fell into a drain that was overflowing with rainwater following a heavy downpour in Chittagong city.
The incident occurred last morning at the Muradpur police box area under the Panchlaish police station of the port city.
The missing person has been identified as Md Salamat, 65.
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Informed, local firefighters responded to the scene and launched a rescue operation.
However, after five hours of frantic effort, they failed to locate Salamat, confirmed Biplob Kumar Nath, leader of the Agrabad Fire Station.
A five-member diving team of the fire station was working to rescue the missing person, said the fire leader.
On June 30, two people were killed when a CNG-run auto-rickshaw lost control and plunged into a drain similarly overflowing with rainwater in Gate No 2 area of the city. Three others were injured at that e time.
Minister worried
LGRD Minister Tajul Islam at a recent program said authorities will soon take up the issue of reported faulty designs in the infrastructure built to solve the waterlogging problem in the port city.
“Issues regarding waterlogging in Chittagong will be taken care of soon in coordination with the agencies concerned, including the Ministry of Water Resources, Chittagong Development Authority, Chittagong Port Authority and Chittagong City Corporation,” the minister said.
Mitigating waterlogging in port city
When the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a Tk7,916 crore project for the Chittagong Development Board (CDA) to alleviate the waterlogging crisis in August 2017, port city residents were ecstatic, expecting their perennial woes to be over by 2020, as promised through the project.
Four years later, the misery caused by waterlogging has multiplied, and CDA has only completed a little over half of the work.
Aside from that, the Water Development Board (WDB) took on a Tk1,620 crore project to combat waterlogging, which it was unable to commence due to opposition from the CDA.
Meanwhile, Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) could not even start its project work in six years, due to complications in acquiring land required for its Tk1,256 crore project.
