Cyclone-triggered rain brings suffering to Dhaka residents 

Cyclonic storm "Sitrang", which might hit coastal areas in the early hours of Tuesday, triggered heavy rainfall in Dhaka like in other parts of the country on Monday, causing woes for city residents. 

The rain hit the city in the dead of night and continued throughout the day under the influence of the cyclone. Moderate to mild rainfall occurred in various parts of the country from Sunday evening and coastal regions witnessed heavy rainfall.  Since the morning, the intensity of the rain increased in most parts of the south western region and the capital.

Day labourers suffered the most because of the rain as they passed idle time at Malibagh rail gate, Maniknagar, Meradia, Jatrabari, Bashabo areas since Monday morning as there were none to hire them for the day. 

The heavy rain also was a bane for rickshaw-pullers too. Ahasan, a rickshaw-puller at Moghbazar area, expressed his dissatisfaction over continuous rain, "We are getting few passengers as most of them prefer CNG [auto-rickshaw] or Uber [ride-sharing service]. Our daily income halves because of the rain," he said.   

Mostly Green Road, Bashundhara Residential area, Agargaon-Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi, Eskaton Garden Road, Mirpur, Khilgaon and some other parts of the city faced waterlogging since Monday morning as the rain showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. 

Office and school goers also struggled to reach their destinations owing to a thin presence of public transport amid waterlogging caused by the incessant rain. And, traffic jams added to their woes on the way back home.

Ibrahim Akbar, chief executive officer of eShikhon.com, which provides online training on freelancing from its office on Green Road, told The Business Standard that he and his colleagues suffered from waterlogging. 

There was knee-deep water on some roads and there were hardly any rickshaws, he said, adding, "If you find a rickshaw, its puller asks for four-five times higher fares. CNG auto-rickshaws are struggling to navigate water-logged streets and engines of a few turn off." 

Some of my colleagues even could not come to the office, he added.   

Mirpur residents, who had to attend offices in Motijheel and some other parts of the city, had a horrific journey yesterday morning. As most buses were overcrowded and CNG-run auto-rickshaws asked two-three times higher than regular fares. 

Sourav Mahmood, a student in Bangladesh Open University, wrote in the "Traffic Alert" group on Facebook, "Bangladeshi CNG auto-rickshaw drivers know Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method very well! They ask for fares when it rains." 

However, traffic congestion on Agargaon-Mirpur Road made commuters wait long hours at the Passport Office intersection due to waterlogging and driving on wrong routes. 

A Banani office bound passenger, Md Abdullah Bin Hafiz told TBS that he passed Agargaon Radio crossing at 9:11 am and he could not cross the Passport intersection - just a few hundred metres ahead - even after one hour. 

Shovon Chandra Hore, assistant commissioner of Sher-e Bangla Nagar traffic zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, "The environment was too rough and we hardly could do anything. The traffic congestion started from the construction site of Agargaon-Mirpur Road. And, most vehicles took wrong routes when they got stuck in traffic for long hours. Then the full system collapsed." 

The traffic official also said they fined a few buses and other vehicles for wrong-side driving and disrupting traffic movement.  

Besides, people have their counter version of suffering. Mukta Mahbuba, a Dhanmondi resident, said it took her only 32 minutes to reach the airport from Shankar area because of a lower presence of traffic. 

Md Refatul Islam, assistant commissioner of Ramna traffic zone, told TBS that they had experienced less vehicular movement in Ramna area. 

However, some trees on road dividers and alongside roads in Ramna and Shahbagh areas fell on roads, which disrupted traffic movement for a few minutes. Traffic and fire service men immediately removed the fallen trees.