Kushtia roads in bad shape
The spending of millions of taka every year without any plans yields no benefit. Poor condition of roads is causing frequent accidents
Our Correspondent
Rural and urban roads in Kushtia have been damaged by torrential rain and floods this year. This has resulted in immense harship for local people.
Since most of the roads are without a blacktop, villagers and town dwellers risk their lives while they travel. It is learnt that only 40 per cent of the districts population are connected by the road network.
Passengers on the Kushtia-Jessore, Kushtia-Iswardi, Kushtia-Bheramara, Kushtia-Rajbari and other rural roads are undertaking perilous journeys, as rain and floods have left the roads and highways badly damaged in several places.
The Kushtia-Iswardi and Kushtia-Jhenaidah highways that connect 32 districts are in a bad shape. They are the only means of communication between the countrys northern and southern zones. It is known that at about 11,000 heavy vehicles use them daily.
According to sources, much of this 24-km-long Kushtia-Jhenaidah regional highway is badly broken. Commuters have been suffering a lot as this regional highway has been in a rundown condition for the past several years. It has developed numerous potholes and cracks, posing hazards to moving vehicles.
This highway has remained unfit for vehicular traffic for the past eight years.
Officials of the Road Division of Kushtia claimed that they have been constantly repairing it for as many years. The total cost of the repairing work was Tk. 20 crore. The authorities concerned spend Tk. 20 lakh every year to repair the highway.
The officials said that though they had repaired the highway last month, But the repairs were completely washed out by subsequent heavy rainfall.
A four-km stretch of the highwayfrom the Mojampur level crossing to the Bottail inter-crossingis in a mess.
One official of the Roads Division said, on condition of anonymity, that the road had not been properly repaired in the last eight years. He also said the allocation for repairs should be increased, adding that thorough repairs were not possible with meagre allocations.
The repairs were invariably done in the rainy season when roads are the most vulnerable to the damage caused by showers. A long-term plan is needed to sustain the highway, the official added.
It has been found that the Roads Division has been carrying out temporary repairs to make the highway passable for vehicles at least for some time.
Omar Faruq, one of the owners of a local rice mill at Khazanagar in Alchara union under Sadar upazila, said every day about 20 trucks carry rice to different markets, including those in Dhaka and Chittagong. But the trucks cannot reach their destinations in time nowdays because of the pathetic road condition.
Convener of the Kushtia unit of Conscious Citizens Committee, Rafiqul Alam Tuku, said that the roads are not being repaired properly due the corruption of Roads Division officials. If 100 percent of the allocation was utilised, the road conditions would not be so bad, he feels.
The convener of Nirapad Sarak Chai of the Kushtia unit, KM Jahid, said: There is no planned initiative to improve the road conditions.
The spending of millions of taka every year without any plans yields no benefit. The poor condition of roads is causing frequent accidents.
Rafiqul Islam, executive engineer of the Kushtia Road Division, said there is no alternative to long-term planning. The bed on which the road rests has completely destroyed. The roadcan only be repaired if that bed is fully restored, he added.
On the other hand, the condition of the 20-km-long Kushtia-Iswardi highway is the same, although money has been allocated to repair that road, said sources.
