Cyclone impact: Dhaka commuters suffer amid traffic jam, waterlogging

UNB, Dhaka :

Different roads in Dhaka went under water due to heavy rains triggered by Cyclone Sitrang, causing traffic gridlock that left no options for commuters but to suffer terribly.

Md Omar Faruq, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Metrological Department, told UNB that 255 mm rains were recorded in 24 hours till 6am on Tuesday.

As Sitrang hit the country’s coastal areas on Monday night, nearly all parts of Bangladesh including the capital experienced heavy rains and storm that uprooted trees or killed people and disconnected power transmission lines.

City Corporation workers were seen removing uprooted trees from Dhaka roads in the morning.

Office-goers and others remained stuck on roads for hours in the morning as traffic movement was slow due to waterlogging.

Roads and alleys were submerged by rainwater in different areas including Uttarkhan, Dakkhinkhan, Bhatara, Mohammadpur, Badda, Azimpur, Demra, Jatrabari and Jurain.

Different places from Khilkhet to Abdullahpur remained waterlogged and the ongoing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project work only added to the commute woes.

Buses and private vehicles remained stuck in a long tailback from Hotel Le Meridien to Dhaka Airport road area as movement was very slow from Abdullahpur area near Tongi due to BRT project work in the morning.

Meanwhile, the road in front of Bangladesh Navy Headquarters remained waterlogged in the morning— creating another tailback for commuters heading towards Banani from Khilkhet area through the flyover.

Landing of Kuril flyover towards Radisson Blu Hotel remained waterlogged and contributed to the tailback towards Banani.

Abu Rayhan Md Saleh, Joint Commissioner for Traffic (Dhaka north) of DMP, told UNB that the road in front of Navy headquarters and several other spots remained waterlogged due to yesterday’s incessant rain.

“People were stuck in tailbacks from Uttara to Mohakhali this morning. But the traffic movement remained smooth in Mirpur area,” he added.

According to Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation, the authorities removed 47 fallen trees from roads.

Besides 17 fire incidents have been received till 10 am on Tuesday, said Anwarul Islam, warehouse inspector of Fire Service and Civil Defense Headquarters.

Meanwhile, 329 trees were uprooted across the country during the cyclone while 34 fire incidents were reported, he said.

Cyclone Sitrang crossed the Barishal-Chattogram coast near Bhola on Monday midnight and weakened rapidly into a depression by triggering precipitation.

Sitrang now lies over Dhaka-Cumilla-Brahmanbaria and adjoining areas as a land depression, said Bangladesh Meteorological Department.