Staff Correspondent

The rain that started on Moday night has flooded most of Dhaka’s roads. The waterlogging is barring traffic on many roads and the rising water has entered the engine blocks of some vehicles and stalled them on the road.

The situation has led to heavy traffic congestion, adding to the difficulties of commuters and school and college students.

Waterlogging could be seen in the Mirpur-10, Mirpur-13, Shewrapara, Kazipara, Pallabi, Mirpur-1, Banani, Jigatala, and Dhanmondi Road 27 areas on Tuesday morning.

Water inundated the road and pavement from Mirpur-10 to Mirpur-13. Battery-run rickshaws are not operating due to the water. There were few pedal rickshaws on the streets. Parents and guardians had difficulty taking children to school amid the lack of transport.

Jasmine Sultana is the mother of a student in sixth grade at Mirpur’s Adivasi Green Heart School and College.

“My child and I are from Senpara, but no rickshaws were willing to take us. Battery-run autorickshaw drivers say the water will get into their engines. We had to wade through the knee-deep water to get here. The footpath is flooded too.”

Three minibuses and a motorcycle had stalled out on the Mirpur-10 road due to water entering the engines

Mohammad Ali, a microbus driver for the Ha-Meem Group, was trying to fix his broken down vehicle.

He said he was heading from the Technical intersection to Gazipur’s Kaliganj when his microbus broke down at Mirpur-10.

“There’s a lot of water on the road. I think it got into the engine. I have been stuck here with my vehicle for about an hour. I’ve seen at least 15 vehicles stuck in the road from Bangla College to here.” Selim, an assistant deputy inspector of the traffic police identified by a single name, said he had been on duty since 6am. At one point, the water had reached waist height, he said.

“The water has gone down a bit since then,” he said. “I saw that some vehicles had broken down in the middle of the road when I came. Locals helped us push them to the side of the road. Traffic is unable to pass because of the water, leading to congestion.”

Several vehicles broke down on the road in Mirpur’s Shewrapara and Kazipara, blocking the traffic.
Few vehicles are able to go from Mirpur-10 to Agargaon due to the vehicles breaking down on the road, said a traffic policeman named Mominul Islam.

“Many vehicles have broken down in that direction, so I can’t allow traffic to go in that direction,” he said.