Staff Reporter :
Most of the roads in two Dhaka cities are in a poor and bad condition and also struggling to provide any kind of quality service to dwellers as numerous cracks and potholes have made them unfit for a smooth traffic.
The commuters of the two cities are enduring hassles in every day as transport vehicles have to negotiate the road stretch with risks where the two city corporations have spent about Tk908 crore in this sector in three years for the repair and maintenance of all roads and also allocated Tk945 crore in the current financial year.
According to reliablesources, different roads in the capital are in poor condition due to lack of renovation and huge gap among the coordination of service agencies. Apart from this, corruption and irregularity is a major obstacle to maintaining the quality of construction and repair works.
Besides, when any development work including WASA pipeline installation finished, the roads are being repaired with sand causing trouble for vehicle movements.
The north and south city corporations have spent Tk 908 crore 60 lakh in this sector in last three years. Of this, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has spent Tk 243 crore on road renovation, maintenance and development where 24 crore47 lakhs Taka have been spent in the financial year 2020-21, which was 111 crores and 12 lakhs in 2021-22 and 107 crore 50 lakhs in the financial year 2022-23, according to the data of relative sources.
The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) have spent Tk 189 crore 50 lakh in 2019-20 financial year which was 243 crore in 2020-21, 164 crore in 2021-22 and finally 258 crore 60 lakh in 2022-23 financial year. The highest expenditure has been spent on renovation and construction of regional roads, pathway and drains.
Besides, the north and south city corporations allocated for road development Tk682 crore and Tk 263 crore respectively in the current financial year.
According to sources, many roads have been retrograded and damaged due to rain. Apart from this, various organizations are cutting roads unplanned during development work and thereby the roads are deteriorating fast.
Meanwhile, big potholes have been formed in the road of Mirpur 60 feet and thereby various high-speed vehicles often face accidents. Even recently, the road of Commissioner Gali of North Pirer Bagh has been cut for the work of underground water line in WASA. But still after the work it has been covered with sand without repairing it.
Besides, in the most places of Mothertech-Khilgaon road, there are numerous potholes as a result of moving out the pitch from the road. Better Life Hospital to South Bansree Tempo Station road and Sipahibagh Bazar to Goran Bazar road are also in the same condition.
Due to the potholes and cracks on the road in Old Dhaka’s Babubazar area, the vehicles have to move slowly. Rickshaw-motorcycle movement on the road below the Babubazar Bridge has also become risky.
Apart from this, about one and a half kilometer long Gandaria new road are also filled with potholes. Moreover, almost the entire main road of Tikatuli’s KM Das Lane area and various roads of Gopi Bagh area are also in very bad condition.
When contacted, DSCC Supervising Engineer Khairul Baker said that reformation work is going on in various places. Other roads will be renovated gradually.
