Moon ride on Dhaka roads

Poor road conditions, delayed repairs and continuous road diggings have left many residents suffering at different places around the city.

Road works completed after digging up roads, and then filled back, have been left without complete repairs, adding to the misery of commuters.

The monsoon rains, as every other year, have made the dug up roads risky for commuting. The number of accidents on such roads has also increased, as has traffic congestion in the same areas.

Busy roads at Jurain, Postogola (near Postogola Buriganga Bridge), Basabo, Madartek, Mir Hajirbagh, Babu Bazar, Islambagh, Lalbagh, Mirpur section-11, Kazipara, Barobagh, Manipur and Karwan Bazar are in extremely poor condition.

On one hand dilapidated roads pose risks to commuters and on the other, different utility service agencies including WASA have also been busy digging up different roads even with the onset of the monsoons.

Adding to this is the roads which were dug up some five months back for works and have since not been re-carpeted. These include Dinnath Sen Road and Rajanikanth Road at Gendaria.

The DCC has also left roads in Mohammadpur -- including the very busy Tajmahal Road -- without re-carpeting.

DCC, which collects a digging fee from companies, which dig up the road for works, is supposed to re-carpet the roads once work is completed and the dug up roads filled again. Experts say that delays by DCC lead to the easy damage of roads as they are left in vulnerable conditions without any carpeting for heavy vehicles to ply on them. Rains only expedite the damage.

The road near the first Buriganga Bridge at Postogola is in extremely bad condition.

On Sunday, a truck carrying bricks from Rajendrapur -- ironically to repair the road on a temporary basis -- overturned on a large pothole. Such accidents are a regular phenomenon in the area, residents say.

Md Zakir, a driver of Silk City -- a bus running regular shuttles on the Jatrabari -Mirpur route -- had a similar experience on the same road. He said that around Tk 1200 is spent on various minor repairs on his vehicle almost within every three days because of the damage cause by the bumpy roads.

Jahangir, owner of Bikrampur Pharmacy near the road, said he witnesses around 10 accidents on this road daily, all caused by the large potholes. Rickshaws, cars, buses and trucks fall alike into the potholes injuring passengers.

Haji Mohammad Osman Gani, president of the Dhaka Zila Truck Malik Samity, said around 12 trucks had accidents because of the large potholes on the roads in the last one month.

It costs around Tk 3000 to 4000 to hire other vehicles to pull up one single truck from there, he said.

Sub-divisional engineer of sub-division-2 of Roads and Highway Department Nur Hossain said they have already started repair works in the area and are now filling up the potholes with a sub-base of brick chips and sand. A thicker layer of bricks would be laid atop this, he said.

"This is a temporary repair of the road. When we repair it on a permanent basis, we will seal this with a layer of bitumen," he said.

Nur said lack of a drainage system led to the logging of water here that flows from Jurain rail gate and Postogola Bridge. This water logging damage the road rapidly.

"We need to set up a drainage line connecting to Buriganga River, but the unavailability of necessary land through which to build this drain stops us," he said.

Sub-assistant engineer of Munishiganj division Md Firoz Alam also said that a drainage line is needed from Postogola to Postogola Shenanibash near the bridge linking Buriganga Bridge to stop the rainwater from accumulating there.

Waterlogging is the main cause behind damage of roads repaired only last year, he said.

The road from Basabo Flyover to Nandipara has been in a desperate condition for the last two and a half years, said resident of Madartek Mamun.

Mir Hajirbagh Road, which was repaired only three years ago has also been damaged at several points, said another resident.

Dinnath Sen Road and Rajanikanth Road, dug up around five months ago to set a storm sewerage line in the area, still await repair though WASA completed its job three months ago.

Mokhlesur Rahman, a resident of Shatish Sarkar Road in Gendaria, said locals are astonished at the extent of negligence by authorities concerned who are yet to attend to the roads dug up five months ago.

These roads were in good condition before that, he said.

Meanwhile, fresh diggings have started at different points of the city including Karwan Bazar, Moghbazar Wireless Railgate to Nayatola-Modhubagh and Distillery Road in Gendaria -- all causing huge suffering to the residents.

DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, when contacted, said they would take immediate steps to repair the dug up roads. He also said that repair of dilapidated roads would be taken up soon.