Shops at Chittagong trading centres go underwater during high tide

Trading centres in Chittagong city are being flooded with rising tides.

Water logging is a common feature in Chakhtai, Khatunganj and Asadganj, but more areas are now being affected as water has been seeping into shops and storages.

The traders’ welfare society in these trading centres has announced protest programmes. They said they did not suffer as much during the raining season.

But since Wednesday, at noon when the tide rises, most areas have been experiencing flooding. The water level rises but recedes only after 4pm.

The situation was repeated on Wednesday midnight and Thursday.

Work on a bridge over the Karnaphuli River and unplanned dredging have left the river brimming, Md Jamal Hossain, organising secretary of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association told bdnews24.com.

“So the water enters Chakhtai-Khatunganj and Asadganj through Chakhtai and Rajakhali canals when the tide is high.”

Water logging led to massive losses in the aftermath of the cyclonic storm Roanu which hit the Bangladesh coast in May, he said.

“Some businessmen raised walls and boundaries. But not everyone could do it. Now water is getting into our stores and we are counting our losses.”

The water is knee-high, said the association’s general secretary Ehsan Ullah Jahedi. “We’veincurred losses amounting to Tk 7 million. Water has entered more than 600 shops and storages.”

He believes the Karnaphuli has reduced in depth, which is a reason for the crisis.

“The river is now 100 feet deep, but the depth used to be 170 feet. Its flow into canals is being blocked by dumped plastic bags.”

The traders have decided to shut their stores for an hour beginning from 11am Saturday to hold a human chain programme during that period.