Constant rain paralyzes city life; more downpour likely, says Met office

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The incessant rain is likely to prolong until Wednesday and then resume again after a short break over the weekend, the Met office has forecast.

More than average rainfall has already been recorded in August and the trend is unlikely to end through the first half of September.

Weather forecasts say that a deep convection is taking shape over the North Bay. Strong monsoon and squally weather may affect adjoining coastal areas of Bangladesh.

Rasheduzzaman, a meteorologist at the Met office, said that prevailing rain might relapse from Wednesday and might resume from September 5.

In the meantime Dhaka life almost came to a standstill as many roads went down under water due to the incessant rain that started from Tuesday morning. Water logged roads and acute traffic made people’s commuting virtually impossible. Office goers and students were mainly facing the brunt as nothing was moving on the road; and water, in many thoroughfares, went as deep as knee height.

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Meanwhile, the constant rain has worsened the country’s flood situation.

According to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), heavy rainfall across the region has inundated vast areas in Bangladesh’s north and north-east, damaging plantations of major cereal Aman paddy and seasonal vegetables.

The rivers in and around Dhaka will also continue to rise over the next couple of days, but there is no warnings for any alarming inundation of the capital city.

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In the next 48 hours, flood situation in the northern, north-eastern and central districts is highly likely to deteriorate due to the heavy rainfall that started Sunday night, said Md Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, duty officer at the forecasting centre.

In the latest bulletin released 6pm Monday, FFWC said that water level in Brahmaputra River is rising and that of Jamuna is steady, but both rivers may swell in the next 72 hours.

The water development board identified 20 points in Teesta, Karotoa, Jamuna, Gur, Atrai, Dhaleswari, Lakhya, Padma, Kobadak, Surma, Kuhiyara, Oldsurma, Jadukata, Kansha and Titas river where water was flowing above danger level.

When asked about the fresh spell of flood, FFWC forecasting officer Arifuzzaman said: “This is happening because of heavy rainfall at the last stage of the monsoon season in the region, which happens sometimes.”

Source: Ittefaq