DHAKA, 4 July 2005 — Heavy monsoon rains lashed Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and towns and villages across the country yesterday disrupting life and businesses and forcing people to abandon their flooded homes, officials said. The rains also flooded the secretariat compound that houses most of the ministry offices in Dhaka.
The central weather office measured a record 156 millimeters of rainfall falling on the overcrowded capital city in the previous 24 hours.
Bangladesh Radio said the overnight downpours, the heaviest in recent years, inundated nearly a quarter of the normally bustling metropolis of over eight million residents.
Buses and cars were only able to move in limited areas of Dhaka as many streets and roads remained waterlogged while sewage was also flowing from overflowing drains.
Schools were shut down and shopping malls closed as the rains fell without any break. Trading on the share market was limited because of the lack of buyers and sellers.
Nearly 1,000 families living in submerged shanty towns on the outskirts of Dhaka moved to high ground.
