Chattogram under water, again

Downpours coupled with tidal surges inundated vast stretches of Chattogram city yesterday, crippling transport and causing severe public suffering.

The Patenga Meteorological Office recorded 189mm of rainfall in the 24 hours till 9:00am yesterday, including 81mm between 6:00am and 9:00am.

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Forecasting Officer Md Ismail Bhuiyan said low pressure and an active monsoon could prolong the rain for another two to three days.

Major commercial and residential areas, including Katalganj, Bakalia, Chawkbazar, New Market, Reazuddin Bazar, Kapasgola, Agrabad, Halishahar and Chandgaon, went under knee-to-waist-level water.

Waterlogging was also reported on the Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Flyover, slowing traffic.

Amid the ongoing gas shortage, many CNG-run auto-rickshaws remained off the roads, leaving office-goers and students struggling to find transport and worsening their ordeal.

“I stepped outside this morning and found the roads submerged, the same nightmare we had faced for three straight days earlier in July,” said Abdul Aziz, a resident of Katalganj.

“Every monsoon brings the same misery, yet there is no permanent solution in sight,” said Chawkbazar resident Mostafa Kamal, adding that he found very few vehicles while travelling to work.

Water also entered the ground floor of Chawk Super Market in Chawkbazar, damaging goods in several shops.

“All my goods have been damaged,” said shopkeeper Md Munna.

Urban planners blamed the recurring waterlogging on delays, planning shortcomings and suspended construction under four major drainage and flood-control projects with a combined estimated cost of more than Tk 14,000 crore.

The projects are being implemented by the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) and Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), but none has met its original completion deadline.

The CDA’s project to renovate 36 primary canals, launched in 2017 and implemented by the Bangladesh Army’s 34th Engineer Construction Brigade, saw its budget rise from Tk 5,616 crore to Tk 8,626 crore.

While 95 percent of the work has reportedly been completed, the project has remained suspended since late April.

CDA Executive Engineer Ahmed Mainuddin said only 15 to 20 days of work remained on key canals, but untimely rainfall had disrupted the remaining work.

The project’s director, Lt Col Mohsinul Haque Chowdhury, said once completed, it would eventually reduce the port city’s waterlogging by up to 75 percent.

Experts, however, said the projects do not adequately take Chattogram’s geography into account.

Delwar Majumder, former president of the Institute of Engineers Bangladesh, Chattogram, said high tides can push seawater levels to more than five metres above sea level, while parts of the city are only two to three metres above sea level.

He said focusing on only 36 of the city’s 57 remaining canals without developing the retention ponds recommended in the 1995 Master Plan would leave Chattogram vulnerable to waterlogging for years to come.