SIRAJGANJ, Aug 27: Due to potholes on around 80-kilometre road in the district, homebound people, during the Eid, are likely to suffer hazards.
After visiting the Hatikumrul gol chattar on August 9 last, the Minister for Roads, Highways and Bridges Obaidul Quader gave 10-day ultimatum for renovating all highways of the district after withdrawing local executive engineer of Roads and Highways Division (RHD) and issuing show-cause to the chief engineer and the caretaker engineer following allegations against them for misappropriating Tk 6 crore in the name of renovating highway before and after the last Eid-ul-Fitr.
But, despite scheduling time which ended on August 19 last, the work has not been completed, and the work done is not up to the mark. As a result, the passengers and the drivers of different vehicles and even the members of law-enforcing agencies have expressed doubt whether the Eid journey this time would be hazardless.
Meanwhile, the executive engineer of RHD claimed that though the renovation work was not completed in time, the homebound people will not face any hazard.
The entry to the North Bengal is the Bangabandhu Bridge West Connecting Road. Thousands of vehicles carrying passengers and goods cross the road daily to go to the north and the south of the country.
But, big and small potholes have been created on around 80-km road from Bangabandhu Bridge West to Hatikumrul Gol Chattar, from Gol Chattar to Pabna Road in Shahzadpur upazila, at Chandaikona of Bogra Road and at Mohishluti of Bonpara Road. As a result, the vehicles are taking more time to reach destinations. Sometimes vehicles get out of order on the road, creating traffic jams very often and the passengers suffer much at that time; even the law enforcers face setback to control the situation.
The RHD repairs roads before and after the two Eids every year, but as the work is of low quality, so it does not last long. In the name of repair, crores of taka is misappropriated, alleged passengers, drivers and local people.
Not only the people, even the Minister, Obaidul Quader, found the allegations and centring this, he withdrew the executive engineer of local RHD and issued show-cause to the Additional Chief Engineer of RHD's Rajshahi Zone Abu Rawshan and Caretaker Engineer Habibur Rahman and fixed 10 days for renovation of the roads.
But the work has not been completed till now. As a result, the passengers and drivers using the road are apprehending much hazards on their way home during this Eid.
Concerned sources said, during the Eid, the number of vehicles crossing the Hatikumrul Gol Chattar reaches 10 thousand to 12 thousand per day when severe traffic jam occurs.
Every year, the Hatikumrul Gol Chattar turns unsuitable for vehicular movement following creation of potholes on the road, and crores of take are spent on repairing it. In 2015, Tk 15 crore was spent on repairing the road including the Hatikumrul Gol Chattar, and in 2016 the expenditure was Tk 7 crore. In 2017, Tk 6 crore was allocated but no visible work was done.
Due to use of low quality construction materials and hasty work, the carpeting on the road does not last longer every year, creating numerous potholes.
While visiting the areas, it was found that the current repair work was going on centring the Hatikumrul Gol Chattar, but there is doubt over the quality of the work. The work may not be completed before the Eid. But the RHD sources claimed that the work would be finished before Eid.
A truck driver Md Musa said, "There are potholes on the road round the year. As a result, we have to move our vehicles steadily which takes more time to reach our destinations."
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Hatikumrul Highway Police Station Md Abdul Qader Jilany said, "Every day, thousands of vehicles cross the gol chattar, but due to potholes, the speed of the moving vehicles comes down. Besides, many vehicles get out of order on the road very often, creating traffic jam. The law enforcers suffer much while controlling the situation. The speed of repair work is so low that the homebound people may face hazards to reach their destinations this Eid."
Executive Engineer (Acting) of Sirajganj RHD Mofazzal Haidar said, "We could not complete our work within the earlier scheduled time. But, the work will be completed by this week, and the people will reach their destinations
in time."
