Homes under waist deep water, slum dwellers take shelter under flyover
Some of the houses are submerged under waist deep water while some are nearly chest-deep underwater. The waterlogging caused by heavy rainfall has led to this situation at Kalshi Balur Maath slum in Dhaka’s Mirpur area. Under such conditions, several hundred people from the slum have taken refuge under the Kalshi flyover.
While visiting the area around 10:30 am today, Friday, slum dwellers were found gathered under the flyover. The slum was submerged from the incessant rainfall throughout the day and night on Thursday. That’s why the people living in that slum have taken shelter under the flyover. They said that they have been sheltering there since 11:00 pm last night.
A large crowd of several hundred people was seen under the flyover. Some were sitting on the ground while some were just standing. A few were snacking on puffed rice and molasses, carried in polythene bags. Some had laid out their wet mattresses and rugs to dry on the raised landing under the flyover. To save their belongings, many brought household appliances like televisions and refrigerators there with them.
When spoken to at least 15 slum dwellers who had taken refuge under the flyover, they revealed as the rainfall intensified in the evening, water started seeping into their homes. By 9:00 to 10:00 pm, water had risen to knee level in many houses. In this condition the slum dwellers started shifting under the flyover around 11:00 pm. Many also sought shelter with relatives living nearby.
A woman, Shirin Akhter, lives at Kalshi Balur Maath slum with her husband, mother-in-law, and two daughters. Their home is near the lowest part of the slum. Shirin said the water had already reached waist level in their home on Thursday night. When she returned briefly around 8:00 am this morning, the water appeared to have risen even more. She has not gone back since.
Shirin said they have been sheltering under the flyover since 11:00 pm last night. Their beds, mattresses, and furniture were all soaked heavily. They managed to bring only a few dry clothes with them. Her family spent the night eating bananas and breads, she mentioned.
A man named Mohammad Kalam, lives in the middle part of the slum with his wife Jasmine and daughter Jannat. He said they left their home around 12:00 pm on Thursday. Their home was still under knee-deep water this morning. Like the other family, they also could not salvage anything else from their house except for a few dry clothes.
Around 450 families live in the Kalshi Balur Maath slum. According to affected residents, hundreds of people from the families living in the slum spent Thursday night under the Kalshi flyover. Many left for work straight from there this morning while others returned home to try to salvage belongings. Members from several families were taking turns to keep watch for preventing theft, they said.
In one corner under the flyover, dry food such as puffed rice and molasses was being distributed among the dwellers of the slum. It was found that the aid came from a man named Mohammad Mintu.
Mohammad Mintu, present at the scene told Prothom Alo that he is the organisational secretary of BNP for unit no. 10, ward no. 5, in Pallabi. Mintu said he had been to the site on Thursday night but could not do anything for those people then.
Acting on party instructions, today he distributed dry food in the morning and made arrangements for cooked meals such as khichuri for the afternoon.
Around 11:00 am today, people were seen taking preparations for cooking khichuri under the flyover.
The slum is located near Kalshi intersection on a stretch of low-laying land down the slope of the street. This correspondent tried to enter the slum going around the Baitul Moeen Jame Mosque after 11:00 am today. He found himself in knee-deep water within just 10 metres of moving towards the slum and was forced to turn back.
Slum residents reported that they had not seen any workers from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) working to drain the water in the area since Thursday night till 11:00 on Friday morning.
However around 10:00 am, DNCC’s public relations department told Prothom Alo, 99 members from their quick response team under DNCC zone no. 10 along with 50 labourers were working to solve the waterlogging problem there. They were using old-fashioned tools to remove the water.
The public relations department further stated that the DNCC launched a control room on Thursday night to receive reports of waterlogging across the city. As of 10:00 am today, they had received 28 complaints and were working to defuse the waterlogging situation in 29 sites across DNCC zone no. 10.