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Downpour disrupts life

Star Report
Incessant rain has disrupted public life and rail, road and river communications, with many low areas and cities, including Chittagong, being flooded for days.
The non-stop rain also prompted the government to issue a warning about the possibility of landslides in the hilly regions of Chittagong and Sylhet divisions.
Rail communication between Chittagong and other parts of the country was suspended around 11:00am yesterday, as the rain washed away soil under the rail tracks between Bhatiary and Kumira in Chittagong.
It took around five and a half hours to resume the rail communication on the route, said Zakir Hossain, divisional transport officer of Bangladesh Railway East Zone.
Heavy downpours also affected port activities. Loading and unloading of goods from mother vessels anchored at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong port has remained suspended since Friday, said Captain Nazmul Alam, deputy conservator of Chittagong Port.
However, ship movement and container handling at the
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jetties went on as usual, he added.
Sheikh Farid Ahmad, forecasting officer of Chittagong Met Office, said 137.2 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours until 12:00noon yesterday.
The city remained inundated for the third day yesterday, with a handful of vehicles plying the streets to the immense sufferings of commuters.
Meanwhile, rail communication on Dhaka-Sirajganj route was restored after almost 20 hours at 6:30pm yesterday.
Earlier on Saturday, two compartments of a freight train veered off the
tracks at Raipur Railway Station in Sirajganj sadar upazila as soil of the earthen embankment under some railway sleepers was washed away by torrential rain, said rail officials.
Since most of the rail tracts in the west zone are on earthen embankments, there will be more disruption in rail communication if the rain continues with the same intensity for three to four more days, ASM Masudur Rahman, a railway divisional engineer of Pakshey Division, told The Daily Star.
The railway authority can repair the damage for the time being. In fact, there has not been much progress in
the repair work since the soil continues to erode due to heavy rain, he added.
The non-stop rain for the last four days created numerous small and big potholes at different places on the Dhaka-Tangail highway.
Besides, an old bridge at Pungli under Tangail sadar upazila became vulnerable. Workers were sent to repair the structure.
In Feni's Fulgazi, the embankment along the Muhuri river collapsed at three points, flooding eight villages and the Feni-Parshuram road. Flash floods from the rivers of neighbouring Indian hills aggravated the situation.
The floods have damaged Aman
saplings and washed away fishes from the ponds of the villages.
In Barisal, the River Port Authority suspended operations of small vessels less than 65-feet-long after an announcement of warning signal no-2 on Saturday morning, said Md Shahidullah, Barisal river port officer and deputy director of Bangladesh Inland WaterTransport Authority.
Since the sea was very rough, all fishing boats and trawlers were asked to take shelter in safe places until the weather improves, said Prodip Kumar, officer of Kalapara weather radar station in the coastal region.
Flash floods in 15 villages of
Dighinala upazila and sadar upazila in Khagrachhari district yesterday morning forced villagers to take shelter on high land and in educational institutions. Floodwater also damaged crops.
Road communication between Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts was disrupted as roads and bailey bridges in Mahalchhari and Dighinala upazilas went under water.
Continuous rain for the last three days also flooded low areas of Bagerhat district. The rainfall was recorded at 1025mm there until 6:00am yesterday.
The rain did not damage crops but
the prawn enclosures would go under water if the downpour continued, said the deputy director of agricultural extension department of the district.
A government handout reads that because of huge mass of moving clouds in the north Bay of Bengal and the surrounding coastal regions of the country, Dhaka, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet may experience heavy rains in 24 hours from last midnight.
fThe Daily Star correspondents in Chittagong, Sirajganj, Tangail, Teni, Barisal, Khagrachhari and Bagerhat contributed to this report.]