The capital experienced 49 mm of rainfall that caused waterlogging in several places. Lanes and by-lanes went under water as the drainage system was cramped with dumped rubbish.

Some parts of the city came to a standstill for a couple of hours with hundreds of vehicles stranded in the roads.

A Wasa (Water and Sewerage Authority) expert says the 260km network of storm sewers in Dhaka is in 'a bad shape' as city dwellers and sweepers and cleaners of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) dump rubbish onto roads.

"The major problem is the amount of solid rubbish and dust dumped into storm sewers," a Wasa official said.

Whenever the DCC street cleaners sweep the streets, they dump all rubbish into the drains through the 'catch pits'. The catch pits as a result get blocked and the flow of rainwater into the drains is hindered.

Much of the country experienced torrential rains in the last two days.

"The monsoon arrived in Bangladesh several days ago. The rain may subside tomorrow, as the monsoon wind will drift away," said Arzumand Habib, deputy director of the meteorological department.

The rainfall was recorded at 120mm in Noakhali, yesterday's highest in Bangladesh, 113mm in Cox's Bazar, 44mm in Chandpur and 20mm in Mymensingh.