The heat and humidity was unbearable, with monsoon playing truant. Finally, the rains arrived with a bang yesterday. There was 63mm of rainfall in six hours, which proved too much for the city’s drainage system to handle, clogged as it is with garbage, in particular polythene bags. Some of the city streets went under water, causing a severe gridlock of morning rush hour traffic in central Dhaka. It spread to other areas, slowing down vehicular movement, and continued in the afternoon too. Most traffic snarls were reported from the Kawran Bazar-Hatirjheel and Moghbazar areas. Police sources said there was VIP movement in the Hatirjheel-Gulshan Niketan area and waterlogging compounded the problem. Between 6:00am and 12 noon, the rain gauge at the Agargaon headquarters of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) recorded 63mm of rainfall. BMD sources said the southwestern monsoon, though weak, finally freed itself and winds carried layers of clouds, triggering rain all over the country, barring Jessore, Rajshahi and Satkhira, the latter recording the day’s highest maximum temperature of 35.8 degrees Celsius.
The rain brought relief to the capital, which had an average temperature of 34-35C in the past few days, that came down to 26.7C. Heavy rainfall was reported from different parts of the country, from northeastern Sylhet to southeastern Chittagong, where streets were flooded by 73mm rains because of the poor drainage system, blocked by encroachments. Sylhet recorded 123mm of rainfall between 12 midnight and 6:00am yesterday. High winds and heavy rain also disrupted river traffic. The BIWTA  prohibited movement of boats less than 35 feet long. The BMD issued warning signal No. 2 which disrupted river traffic on the southern routes.