Rain brings relief to some, but misery to most

Last morning, a sudden nor’wester accompanied by strong gusts of wind brought relief to the people of Dhaka and Chattogram from the scorching summer heat that had been sweeping the country since last week.

However, not everyone had the same experience. Rain, which brought relief to many people, caused suffering to many others. Though the showers brought a much-needed reprieve to the residents from the sizzling summer heat, they also brought back the obvious miseries-- rush-hour traffic snarls in Dhaka.

The worst affected were the office-goers and school-going children as traffic crawled in several busy stretches of the densely populated metropolis due to the rain.

“Rains or thundershowers with intense lightning flashes and temporary gusty or squally wind are likely to occur at many places in Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions,” according to a met office bulletin.

The Chattogram, Khulna, and Barisal divisions may experience moderately heavy to heavy rainfall, the release added.

The highest temperature on Friday was recorded at 37.6°C in Khulna’s Jessore, while the minimum temperature was 20.8°C in Rangpur’s Rajarhat.

The weather department in Dhaka recorded 42mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours till 6am on Saturday.

“Showers are likely to occur in Dhaka, Rangpur, and Bogra districts in the next 24 hours,” said Monowar Hossain, a meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

Meanwhile, a couple of hours of downpour led to waterlogging in several parts of Chattogram on Saturday, making the lives of its residents miserable.

Busy areas of the city, including No 2 Gate, Bahaddarhat, Muradpur, Chawkbazar, and Khatunganj, and several low-lying areas, like the Agrabad CDA residential area, bore the brunt of the early morning rains.

Due to a lack of public transport, many people were seen wading through ankle-deep water in these areas to reach their destination. Aggrieved residents claimed the showers had once again shattered the tall claims of monsoon preparedness by the civic body.

Md Kamal, a resident of the No 2 Gate area, said: “The showers began at around 4am, and after a couple of hours the Mayorgoli was flooded due to poor drainage network.”

Biswajit Chowdhury, an official of the Patenga Weather Observatory Centre, said: “Moderate to light rains are likely to occur in the port city in the next 24 hours. In the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday, the met office recorded 6mm of rainfall.”

Soibal Das, councillor of Jamalkhan ward, said: “A project is being implemented to end the waterlogging problems in the city once and for all.”

However, he attributed Saturday’s waterlogging woes in the city to dykes being constructed on different canals as part of the project.

Nor’wester lashes Bogura, kills one

Similar to several other parts of the country, the nor’wester lashed many parts of the Bogura district in the early hours of Saturday.

In Kahaloo upazila, a man namely Md Gulzer, 45, was killed by a falling tree branch during the nor’wester.

The nor’wester locally called ‘Kalboishaki’ also uprooted trees, damaged homes, and standing crops in the district. The local weather department recorded 32mm of rain in the last 24 hours till 6am on Saturday in Bogura town.

The storm caused the town to suffer a power outage as trees collapsed on power lines, said Golam Kibria, district relief and rehabilitation officer. The four-minute storm travelled at 88.6 kilometres per hour across the district.

2 farmers go missing as trawler sinks in Padma

Two farmers went missing Saturday morning after a paddy-laden trawler capsized in the Padma River amid stormy weather near Lohajang turning point in Munshiganj district.

The missing farmers were identified as Helal Fakir, 50, and Alo Fakir, 60.

The trawler with 15 passengers, all farmers, on board sank in the river while they were returning home after harvesting paddy at Arial Beel with some 150 maunds of paddy.

Thirteen farmers were rescued alive with the help of nearby vessels after the accident, said Lohajang Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdul Awal.

He said the fire service department was informed while locals were trying to trace the missing farmers at noon.

“The trawler was plying defying the ban on trawler movement due to inclement weather and action will be taken in this regard,” said UNO Abdul Awal.