Water entered the ground floor of the BNP's central office at Nayapaltan as continuous rainfall inundated roads and neighbourhoods across the capital on Sunday.
The long stretch of the road in front of the party headquarters remained submerged in waist-deep water in the morning, forcing party leaders, activists and staff to wade through the floodwater to reach the office.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi arrived at the office in the morning to announce the party's mourning programmes following the death of Standing Committee member Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar.
When Rizvi left the office around noon, a rickshaw had to be brought inside the premises so that he could avoid walking through the deep water outside.
Several other BNP leaders, including Joint Secretaries General Habib Un Nabi Khan Sohel and Abdus Salam Azad, and Executive Committee member Abdus Sattar Patwari, were also seen wading through water to attend the press conference.
Sohail Mahmud, a worker of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and a student of the University of Dhaka, said the entire Nayapaltan road went under water.
"The water is so deep that even motor vehicles cannot move. Water entering the engines has left many vehicles stranded," he said.
Shamim, an employee at the BNP office, said heavy rain continued since the previous night and water started accumulating on the road early in the morning.
"Before 9:00am, the stretch from Fakirerpool intersection to Kakrail was completely submerged. Waves created by passing water were reaching the party office," he said, adding that several office staff had to wade through water to report for duty.
By around 10:00am, roads in Bijoynagar, Kakrail, Fakirerpool, Shantinagar and Malibagh were also inundated, causing widespread suffering for office-goers, students and pedestrians on the first working day of the week.
Sulaiman, a sanitation worker in Bijoynagar, said collecting household waste became extremely difficult because of the flooding.
"I came out for work in the morning and found the roads under water. Many households are still waiting for waste collection. On normal days, I finish by noon, but today I could not complete the work even by 2pm," he said.
Several vehicle showrooms, shopping outlets and roadside businesses along the Nayapaltan road were also affected as floodwater entered their premises.
Bijoynagar resident Anwarul Alam Khan said he had to return home after getting soaked on his way to work before changing clothes and setting out again.
"There was so much water that no rickshaw or auto-rickshaw was operating. Many CNG-run auto-rickshaws and private cars were stranded after water entered their engines," he said.
Roads in Malibagh, Kakrail, Shantinagar and Nayapaltan become submerged whenever there is several hours of heavy rain, Anwarul said. "This is not a new problem. I think the government should address it urgently. If the capital remains under water, how will the country function?" he said.