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Dhaka drenched in rain


Published : 06 Dec 2021 10:25 PM | Updated : 07 Dec 2021 01:58 PM

Dhaka has been drenched in rainfall for two consecutive days due to cyclone Jawad. The rain has caused shortage of buses, auto-rickshaws, rickshaws and other public transports. City dwellers were seen suffering miserably as the shower poured in continuously the whole day.

Since Monday morning, there was a major crisis of public transports in Motijheel, Mirpur-10, Kakrail, Paltan, Shantinagar, Shyamoli, Shahbag, Bangla Motor, Kawran Bazar, Farmgate, Azimpur, Newmarket, Nilkhet and other areas of the capital city. Ongoing HSC candidates and their parents also suffered due to the rain.

Dhaka roads host around 6,000 buses and minibuses during regular hours every day. Despite of having numerous vehicles at the bus stands, less buses and minibuses were seen plying the roads in the city since the morning due to rain. On the other hand, the passengers were seen queued up and standing on roads for hours for public transports.

Tahsin Ahmed, a university goer, told this correspondent that it took an hour to get out of Mirpur-12 DOHS area and reach the road adjacent to the national zoo.

“No car or CNG-run auto-rickshaws were available in the app based transport services. I and my brother waited for almost an hour before getting out but eventually gave up trying finding vehicles and came out on the road and started walking towards our destination,” he said.

Passengers were waiting for buses and auto-rickshaws at various places on the main road at Mirpur-1. 

While talking to this correspondent, Fahima Islam, a resident of Shyamoli area, said, “After waiting for about one and a half hours in Mirpur-1 area, I was lucky to find an auto-rickshaw for Shyamoli. I was charged Tk 250 as fare which is twice of the regular days.”

Various passengers in the capital including students and office goers have been seen rushing to their destinations with umbrellas or raincoats throughout the day. The poor people including day labourers were seen passing lazy time as they could not manage any work. Many others were forced to stay at home due to continuous drizzling throughout the day.

According to the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association (DRTOA), half of the buses and minibuses of the capital did not ply city roads due to bad weather and continuous rain. Due to waterlogging on different roads, several transports could not be run. The Mohakhali-Abdullahpur Road was also heavily congested throughout the day. Drivers were instructed to drive with utmost caution as the roads became very slippery.

Meteorological department reports suggest that the depression in the Northwest Bay of Bengal and the adjoining the West-Central Bay of Bengal was further advancing Northeast and weakening in the form of clear light pressure in the Northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining West Bengal-Bangladesh coastal areas.

It could gradually lose strength moving North and Northeast. As a result, moderate to heavy rains are likely to occur in Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Rajshahi divisions. Signal number 3 is active in all seaports of the country, according to the meteorological department.

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