Chittagong City Corporation authorities continue urging people living riskily on hills to move to safer places to avoid landslide-related damage and casualties
The incessant torrential rains, accompanied by rushing downhill water, under the influence of a depression in the Bay have partially severed Chittagong’s road communication with the three hill districts, leaving hundreds of people marooned in different parts.
Raozan Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shamim Hossain on Tuesday said that at least 50,000 people were marooned and some bridges and culverts collapsed due to the downpours.
Satkania UNO Mobarak Hossain said that smaller vehicles were unable to move as the Bandarban-Chittagong Road went underwater following heavy rains.
Fatikchhari UNO Diak Kumar Roy also said that the torrential rains submerged 14 unions of the upazila.
The roads in different parts of the upazila were also inundated after heavy rains, he added.
A goods-laden truck overturned after losing balance on a huge pothole on the waterlogged Access Road in Chittagong city on June 11, 2018 | Focus Bangla
According to the locals, the fish from different farms and tanks got washed away with the onrush of water from the hills.
Meanwhile, Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) authorities have urged people living riskily on hills to move to safer places to avoid landslide-related damage and casualties.
The engineering and the conservancy departments of the CCC have been warning and requesting people through loudspeakers to move to the designated shelters.
Heavy rainfall on Monday had also caused unprecedented inundation in Chittagong city, causing immense suffering to the citizens and disrupting normal city life along with vehicular movement.
Also Read- Record rainfall severely disrupts city life in Chittagong
The low-lying parts of the port city were submerged in knee-deep to waist-deep water, leaving city dwellers stranded.
The Patenga Met Office had also warned that the torrential rain might trigger landslide in some parts of the city, which had been experiencing heavy precipitation accompanied by squally wind since Sunday.
Suffering of the commuters, including office-goers, students and apparel factory workers, knew no bound following the incessant downpour as motor vehicles were seen trapped in waterlogged areas.
A rickshaw puller pulls his vehicle with two passengers wading thigh-high water on the CDA Road in Chittagong city on June 11, 2018 | Focus Bangla
Unlike other cities in the country, Chittagong is gifted with a natural drainage system, having a long network of canals, to drain out storm water to the rivers and the Bay of Bengal.
However, nearly a third of the city goes underwater every monsoon as its southern part gets inundated during high tides even with no rainfall.
City planners blame unplanned urbanization, illegal refilling and encroachment of canals and drains for obstructing the free flow of water, while all sorts of solid wastes worsen the situation, especially in the rainy season.
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