The incessant rainfall over the past two days has brought life to a standstill in Khulna. Overnight, heavy rains have inundated the low-lying areas due to the slow drainage of water.
Due to waterlogged streets, students and office-goers face severe difficulties on Sunday.
The meteorological office says that although it has been raining for the past two days under the influence of low pressure, the weather conditions might improve starting Sunday afternoon.
The monsoon depression has been affecting the Khulna region, with rainfall occurring for the last two days, inundating most parts of Khulna. The city's PTI intersection, Royal More, KDA Avenue, and Haji Mohsin Road, among various streets, are underwater.
Due to ongoing drainage system improvement works by the Khulna City Corporation (KCC), which have been progressing slowly over the past 3-4 years, rainwater is not draining quickly. Like the drains, the roads also need repair as they are flooded.
Imam Hossain Suman, a resident of the Tutpara area, said: “The road in front of my house has been dug up by the KCC for the last three years but has not been repaired. The unfinished drainage work has prevented water from clearing, resulting in a large area remaining inundating for the last two days. While there were no issues on Friday and Saturday, Sunday has been extremely troublesome for people going to work.”
Sejuti Islam, a resident of Haji Mohsin Road, said that the rain has caused water to accumulate on the roads, and it’s hard to find any vehicles, even rickshaws, on the roads. A few rickshaws that are available are demanding fares of Tk70-80 instead of the usual Tk30.
Rickshaw driver Rezaul said that the rain has inundated the roads, and if water enters the rickshaw motor, it can not be operated. Therefore, he is compelled to charge a higher fare.
Mohammad Amirul Azad, a senior meteorologist at the Khulna meteorological office, said: “Some 64mm of rainfall has been recorded in the city in the last 24 hours. From 6am to 9am on Sunday, 24mm of rainfall was recorded.”
He said the rainfall is due to low pressure, and the weather could improve by Sunday afternoon.
