Afternoon rainfall floods parts of Dhaka, triggers traffic disruption

Residents of Dhaka faced fresh trouble on Saturday as intermittent morning showers intensified into heavier downpours by noon, inundating parts of the city and causing severe traffic disruption.

Several key roads and alleyways were submerged, leading to extensive waterlogging and significantly slowing vehicular movement in various areas. Commuters experienced long delays, with some roads brought to a complete standstill.

The persistent rainfall disrupted both major thoroughfares and smaller streets, compounding the woes of residents already grappling with poor drainage systems and chronic congestion.

By Saturday evening, people in Nilkhet, New Market, West Dhanmondi, Dhanmondi 27, parts of Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Green Road, parts of Banani, and Jurain bore the brunt of the gridlock and inundation.

Ahmed Ali, a city bus driver at Science Lab intersection, said, "The road conditions today (Saturday) are just as deplorable as they were on Friday midnight. And the waterlogged streets only made things worse."

According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Dhaka recorded 31 mm of rainfall on Saturday, most of which fell between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm.

The city has been experiencing continuous rainfall since early Thursday due to a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal. The system later turned into a land depression, affecting several parts of the country.

The Met Office warned that the depression, as it continues to cross land, could bring one to two more days of rainfall.

It also reported that the southwest monsoon has set in over Bangladesh and is currently fairly active over the country and moderate over the North Bay.

The highest recorded rainfall was in Sylhet (202 mm), followed by Chattogram (82 mm).

In its evening forecast, the BMD predicted light to moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over Mymensingh, Chattogram, and Sylhet divisions, and at a few places over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, and Barishal divisions, with moderately heavy to very heavy falls expected in some areas across the country within the next 24 hours.

tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com