On Monday night (October 24, 2022) under the influence of Cyclone
Sitrang, water entered various shops and warehouses in Khatunganj, Asadganj, and
Chaktai areas, the largest wholesale market of Chittagong. It causes extensive
damage to various products including pulses, nuts, spices, and onions. Photo:
Collected
M/s Bacha Mia Saudagar is the
wholesaler of raw products from Hamidullah Mia Market in Khatunganj. On Monday
(October 24, 2022) around 11 o'clock in the night, water started rising in the
warehouse of company. A few feet high wall has been provided at the front
door of the warehouse to prevent tidal water every year. Still, the water
entered the warehouse after breaking that height.
Mohammad Idris, the leader of the
company, was there when the water entered the warehouse. Describing the
situation of the night, he said, after 9 o'clock the tide started to rise.
After 11 pm, the flow of water suddenly increased. Within 15-20 minutes, water
enters warehouses and establishments. As many as 10 employees of the
establishment were able to quickly remove some of the sacks below. Still, 150
sacks of onions and 140 sacks of turmeric, and some ginger sacks are soaked in
water. Roughly two lakh rupees worth of raw produce was lost in tidal water.
Mohammad Idris has been doing
business for 42 years in this 67-year-old family business. However, he said
that he had not seen such a tide after the 1991 cyclone. He said, "We are
used to tidal water. Because of this, everyone raised the way water entered
the warehouse. It does not have much problem with tides for many years. This
time neither worked. Water has entered all the shops and warehouses of
Hamidullah Mia Market.
Like this business, many
businesses and warehouses in Chaktai-Khatunganj have lost their products due to
water ingress. Traders said the damage was more than usual due to the rise in
tidal water level due to Cyclone Strang. Until yesterday Tuesday (October 25,
2022), many could not separate the water-soaked products. Traders said that
these products are rotting.
Chittagong Port Authority
regularly records the height of tidal water. Port officials said that the
height of tidal water was higher than normal due to the cyclone during the full
tide of the new moon.
When asked to know, Chittagong Port Hydrography Department Chief Commander M Arifur Rahman told Prothom Alo that Sadarghat is the nearest station to Khatunganj. At 11:20 PM on Monday, the height of tidal water at Sadarghat station was 6.14 meters. The height of water at normal tide should be 4.13 meters. But on Monday night, the tide was 2 meters higher than normal.
According to information from
Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, most of the consumer goods
imported through Chittagong Port are sold through traders in Khatunganj. There
are about five thousand businesses in this area including Khatunganj, Chaktai, and Achadganj. From edible oil, sugar, wheat, rice, pulses, spices, and raw products
to chemicals, various products are sold. In addition to Chittagong, products
are supplied to the entire country from this trading center.
The total amount of damage caused
in Khatunganj due to this flood has not been fully calculated. When asked to
know, Mahbubul Alam, President of the Chittagong Chamber and President of the Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, said that water has risen more or
less in every shop and warehouse on the ground floor. However, it will take a
few days to find out how much product has been lost or the extent of the damage.
A study was conducted in 2020 by
the National Resilience Program of the Government Planning Commission and the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the Chittagong
Chamber on the extent of damage caused by tidal and rainwater flooding in
Khatunganj. According to the research report published in 2021, financial
losses of Tk 2,517 crore have been incurred in one decade (2011-2020) in major
wholesale trade centers of the country due to flooding due to heavy rains or
tidal water.
When contacted, Riaz Akhtar
Mallik, a member of the research team and professor of the Civil Engineering
Department of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CHUET), said
last Tuesday (October 25, 2022), the situation of waterlogging in this
commercial center is worsening every year due to various reasons, including the
increase in the height of tidal water due to the effect of climate change. To
overcome this situation, it is necessary to give importance to solid waste
management, increase water capacity, renovate the surrounding canals including the Chaktai canal, and improve the drainage system.
Source:
Online/SZK
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