Flood wreaks havoc across Chattogram, upsetting port activities, public life
Offloading of goods from mother vessels remained halted for five days till Tuesday while container delivery at the port halved
Heavy rains over the past week, and the resulting floods and waterlogging have brought Chattogram, the country's largest port, to a standstill causing business disruptions with combined losses of almost Tk500cr, according to business leaders.
Lives of hundreds of thousands of people are in disarray across the port city and several hill districts as the flooded roads snapped communication and homes and properties went under water.
According to the Met Office, the normal rainfall in August is 530mm but 587mm of rainfall was recorded in Chattogram in the first seven days of the month.
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Army troops have been deployed amidst deteriorating flood conditions in Chattogram and Bandarban, where hundreds of thousands remain stranded due to rising waters and snapped inter-district road connections.
Incessant rain and high tides in the Bay halted goods loading and unloading activities in Chattogram port.
At least 350 lighter vessels could not unload goods from mother vessels docked at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port in the last five days. In addition, although 4,500 containers are delivered daily from the port during normal hours, it has come down to half.
According to Water Transport Cell, a privately-owned lighter vessel operator body, around 5,000 of their vessels are sitting idle due to the rain.
Many industries are waiting for raw materials due to the cargo disruption at the port.
Most of the markets and shops in the port city, including Khatunganj, the country's largest wholesale market, have been largely closed due to flooding and tidal water.
Businessmen said rain and flooding will cause at least Tk500 crore of damage in Chattogram port, markets and shops.
Though the waterlogging of the city has gone down a little since Monday night, flooding worsened in some upazilas of South Chattogram and Bandarban.
Chattogram's road communication with Cox's Bazar and Bandarban was snapped on Monday night and army personnel were reportedly working to resume the connectivity as of Tuesday night.
Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman told The Business Standard on Tuesday, "15 upazilas of Chattogram including Satkania Lohagara, Chandanish, Anwara, Boalkhali, Raujan, Rangunia, and Hathazari are now flooded. But the flood situation has taken a terrible turn in Satkania upazila. All the villages of 16 unions of this upazila have been inundated."
"About 650,000 people are marooned in flood water in the port city and upazilas of Chattogram at this moment. Some 1,100 families in the city have been evacuated to safe shelters so far," he added
The district administration is yet to assess the damage caused by floods to the shrimp enclosures, fish farms, and shops.
Meanwhile, six people, including a university student, were killed in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar from drowning and landslides.
The Met Office predicted that rainfall is likely to taper off from Wednesday.
Tk120 crore loss feared as goods unloading halted
Offloading of goods from mother vessels through lighter vessels remained halted for five days till Tuesday afternoon.
According to Chattogram port data, some 84 ships carrying various products including oil, sugar, pulses, salt, fertiliser, clinker, stone, industrial raw materials, and scraps are waiting at the outer anchorage and jetties of the port till 8 August.
Industrialists fear that production will be interrupted if the raw materials do not reach their factories on time.
According to the Bangladesh Shipping Agents' Association, importers and traders have to pay a daily fare of $20,000-$40,000, depending on the size of the vessel, to ships docked at the jetties and the outer anchorage of the port. For 84 ships, the total fare amount for the last five days will stand around Tk120 crore.
Chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents' Association Syed Mohammad Arif told TBS, "Goods cannot be unloaded at the outer anchorage due to bad weather and additional shipping charges are piled on the importers. But this cost rise is ultimately borne by consumers. Prices will go up."
Meanwhile, container delivery from Chattogram port has been cut by almost 50% due to continuous rain. In normal times, more than 4,000 containers are delivered every day, but on 7 August, the number came down to 2,200.
Secretary of Chattogram Port Authority Md Omar Faruk said it was not possible to unload goods at the outer anchorage in the last five days. The rain started to taper off on Tuesday and the unloading operation will begin on Wednesday. Besides, the delivery operations of the port will also become normal.
Lighter ships to face Tk90cr loss
Ataul Kabir, the director (Operations) of the Water Transport Cell, told TBS that around 5,000 lighter ships ply with goods from the port to various sea routes across the country. Lighter ships have been sitting idle due to continuous rains for the past week.
Convener of WTC and Secretary of Cargo Vessel Owners' Association Nurul Haque said each lighter vessel is losing about Tk25,000 daily. In the last week, owners of lighter ships have suffered a financial loss of about Tk90 crore.
Small and medium traders look at Tk200cr loss
The shops, malls and kitchen markets in Chattogram City sustained severe damage in the flooding, however, Khatunganj, one of the biggest wholesale markets in the country was relatively unharmed.
Product stocks at many shops were destroyed by flood water that entered the shops, causing small and medium businessmen to incur losses of at least Tk200 crore, business leaders said.
Reazuddin Bazar in the city got away with rather lesser damage. Traders said that goods worth at least Tk50 crore have been damaged in this market due to flooding in the last four days according to business leaders.
Around 40% of the city's markets and shops, including Reazuddin Bazar, Bahaddarhat, Chawkbazar, GEC, Sholoshahar Gate No 2, Agrabad, and Halishahar, were closed.
Mozammel Hossain, joint general secretary (Chattogram branch) of the Bangladesh Shop Owners' Association, told TBS traders suffer losses every year due to floods. Goods are destroyed and businesses remain closed. This time around 5,000 shopkeepers were hit by flooding.
A study by the UNDP in 2021 revealed that Tk463 crores of damage occurs every year due to floods in Khatunganj and surrounding areas alone.
Waterlogging mitigation projects fail to save city
Chattogram City Corporation, Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) and Water Development Board have implemented several projects worth Tk14,263 crore in the last five years to solve the city's perennial waterlogging issue but failed miserably. In some cases, these projects increased waterlogging.
Chattogram City Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury told TBS, "The CDA has not cleaned even one-fourth the soil (9.5 million cubic metres) it was supposed to extract from the canals under their projects. The width of the canal has been reduced to make roads but the depth of the canal has also decreased, resulting in reduced water flow."
"Apart from this, the water closets are not yet operational. There is no arrangement for removing water with pumps. That is why waterlogging still persists," the mayor said.
However, refuting this allegation, CDA Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan bin Shams told TBS that the canals were properly maintained under the projects. But the city corporation did not fix the drainage system. That is why water cannot flow unhindered from canal to canal, resulting in waterlogging as usual.
Dr Muhammad Rashidul Hasan, a professor at the Urban and Regional Planning Department of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, told TBS, "There is a lack of coordination among the organisations who are implementing different projects for mitigating the waterlogging in the city."
"Chattogram is different from other cities for its unique geographic location such as hills, sea and river. Before taking any project, environmental and climate factors should be taken into consideration," the professor added.
Climate factors in Chattogram
The port city is suffering from multiple hazards due to climate change-induced reasons such as sinking land, erratic rainfall, and rising sea levels. Due to the sea level rising, new areas are being waterlogged every year.
Chattogram Patenga Office Meteorologist Ujjal Kanti Paul told The Business Standard, "This erratic rainfall is caused by climate change. As per our data and study in August, the regular rainfall is around 530 mm, but this year, in the first seven days, it crossed the 587mm mark. We recorded 321 mm of rainfall on Sunday alone, which is the highest in the last 30 years."
According to a World Bank study titled "Hotter and more humid with erratic rainfall: Climate change in Bangladesh", Bangladesh is associated with having six seasons. However, with the effects of climate change becoming more pronounced, the distinct features of these seasons are becoming increasingly blurred.
"Maximum temperature in Dhaka increased by 0.5°C whereas the increase for Chattogram was 0.9°C between 1980 and 2019."
The study also observed the changes in the pattern of the rainfall. Chattogram experienced higher rainfall than Dhaka between 1976 and 2019.
According to Chattogram port, at Sadarghat point, the height of the tide was more than 0.5 metres from the regular one.
"In recent years we have not seen a tide with such height. It is more than 0.5 metres from the regular height that causes water to enter the city," said Chief Hydrographer of Chattogram Port Authority Commander M Arifur Raham.
