A mother picks up her school-going child in her arms to take her to school through knee-deep water on Ziaur Rahman Sarani in Matuail. Photo: Anisur Rahman Ashraf, a security guard at an ATM booth of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited in Mirerbagh, has been wearing lungi instead of his uniform while coming to his workplace from home since Tuesday. The reason is but to save his uniform from getting soaked, a
s dirty water has submerged most parts of his route to work for the last four days. "I wear the uniform once I reach the ATM booth. After the day's duty, I have to change the dress again to keep it dry for the next day," he said. A woman cooks in her kitchen, that had been flooded. Photo: Anisur Rahman The rainwater also flooded his house at Mirajnagar and he had to put three bricks under each leg of his cot to keep it above water. The recent spells of torrential rain have triggered waterlogging in the Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) embankment area and caused immense sufferings to around 50,000 people living there. The waterlogging exposed the poor drainage system of this area. Purba Mohammadbagh, Munshibagh Bridge, Miraznagar in Kadamtali, Shyampur, Shonir Akhra and Doniya are the worst affected areas due to a clogged drainage system. Abul Kalam, a restaurant owner in Mirajnagar, could not open his restaurant as the surrounding area has been inundated by knee-deep water from Tuesday. Advertisement "I have to incur a loss of Tk 15,000 due to this," he said. Sirajul Islam, a rickshaw garage owner at Mirajnagar, said he had to count a loss of Tk 40,000 last month as his garage went under knee-deep to waist-deep water due to the heavy rainfall. "The waterlogging has also affected 50 of my rickshaw-pullers as they were unable to bring the vehicles out in the water," he said. The waist-deep water has made it difficult for Rini Akhter of Shyampur to go kitchen markets. She has been cooking once in a day for the last three days as water had flooded her house, leaving her no option but to do the cooking on their bed. The people of the area have been enduring such waterlogging for several days. In the photo Dhania College, seen inundated. Photo: Anisur Rahman A good number of roads, kitchen markets, business centres, houses and schools went under ankle-to-knee deep water during the current spell of rain for the last few days, said locals. Locals, however, blamed unplanned buildings in wetlands, illegal encroachment of low-lying areas, and a lack of regular cleaning of the drains for the situation. The people of the area have been enduring such waterlogging for several days. In the photo Kadamtoli Road seen inundated. Photo: Anisur Rahman Most drains that carry the rainwater remain clogged due to indiscriminate dumping of solid waste, they said. A canal stretching from Baroitola to Matuail Shishu Hospital, which is the main channel of draining out rainwater, has shrunk over the years due to mindless encroachment and indiscriminate dumping of solid waste into it. Ruhul Amin, executive engineer of Dhaka division-1 of Bangladesh Water Development Board said they spent Tk 1 crore to clean 100 km long canals of the DND area this year. Describing the condition of the canals "good" this year, he said their pumps at Shimrail have the capacity to drain out the water but they failed to do so immediately at some areas due to poor sewerage system and random garbage dumping. The people of the area have been enduring such waterlogging for several days. In the photo Kajlarpar kitchen market seen inundated. Photo: Anisur Rahman To improve the situation, the authorities concerned should regularly clean the drains and the locals should refrain from dumping waste into the drains, he added.
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