DHAKA, 14 September 2004 — Monsoon downpours brought flash floods yesterday to Bangladesh, which is still reeling from massive flooding that killed more than 700 people in July and August. Several people were killed in rain-related accidents yesterday.
Arjumand Habib, deputy director of the Meteorological Department, said a low pressure system causing the rains was expected to affect central Bangladesh including the capital Dhaka.
Heavy downpour halted normal life in Dhaka city inundating most city streets, disrupting traffic and causing power outages at different places.
Three people were electrocuted and died after coming into contact with downed electric cables in separate incidents in Dhaka, officials at Dhaka Medical College Hospital told AFP. A ten-month-old baby and three women died when a boat capsized in the central Bangladeshi district of Shariatpur, police Superintendent Kamrul Ahsan said.
Two days of incessant rains, coupled with squalls, triggered by depression over the Bay of Bengal wreaked havoc in Dhaka and other parts of the country.
Swirling water swamped many shops, markets, mosques and offices disrupting normal business.
The entire compound of the Bangladesh Secretariat — the seat of the government — was inundated. Electric supply remained suspended since morning as rainwater flowed into the power substation inside the secretariat.
Secretariat building number-four and several tin shed offices were submerged. “I have seen the premises of the secretariat flooded many times, but not like this ever,” said an elderly assistant, working at the power division for over 25 years.
Attendance was thin in the headquarters of the administration. Even many ministers did not turn up. Some of the ministers went straight to attend the Cabinet meeting at the prime minister’s office. But they too faced difficulty due to flooding in reaching the Parliament secretariat from the PMO as the legislature was in session.
The submerged manholes or potholes on roads added to people’s problems as wheels of rickshaws got caught in hidden traps and passengers fell into water. Attendance at government and private offices was thin.
The capital’s Malibagh, Shantinagar, Motijheel, Khilgaon, Badda, Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, Shukrabad and old Dhaka areas were badly affected by floods.
All the 64 districts of Bangladesh have been witnessing heavy rains for the past three days.
The low pressure is expected to move toward Sylhet in the northeast and India’s Assam state. “We expect this situation to continue until the low hits Sylhet and then moves into Assam,” Arjumand Habib told AFP.
At least a quarter of Dhaka’s roads were underwater yesterday, city mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka said. “The infrastructure of Dhaka is not up to coping with this sort of continuous downpour,” he said.
“The drainage system is so clogged up with mud and other material like rubbish that the water cannot disperse fast enough.”
In the southeastern city of Chittagong, low-lying areas were flooded and cargo loading at the city’s port was disrupted, officials said.
