Unplanned road digging
It is quite worrying to note that traffic jam, which is an everyday trouble for Dhaka dwellers, has taken a turn for the worse due to uncoordinated road digging by different utility service-providing agencies amid the construction of new buildings and flyovers alongside demolition works, according to a report in this newspaper yesterday. Surprisingly, hardly a month ago, the authorities concerned of Moghbazar-Mouchak Flyover Project repaired the roads in the project area, aiming at easing the sufferings of commuters. But, the Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) recently started digging the newly-repaired roads in Moghbazar area to lay underground electric cables giving the monstrous traffic congestion a regular shape. Things did not end here. The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is also reinstalling drainage system in Moghbazar-Mouchak area and other areas of the city by digging footpaths, obstructing the movement of pedestrians.
The works on the Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover is going on very slowly. As a result, movement of vehicles on the way is being disrupted seriously causing a lot of sufferings to the commuters. The construction of the flyover seems to be a never-ending process. Commuters are suffering as digging of roads is going on in many areas for laying utility lines. Heaps of mud, bricks and brick-chips, sand and pipes lying helter-skelter have narrowed the roads, causing severe traffic congestion. Some roads where digging was completed a few months ago, are still in a deplorable condition. It is difficult to fathom why digging work is undertaken caring a fig for the sufferings of the city-dwellers. A section of people connected with the job is benefited while the taxpayers have to bear the brunt of such malpractice.
Usually the roads in the capital city are in a bad shape. Big potholes, cracks and breaches have developed on various points of these roads making them almost death traps. Monsoon rain aggravates the conditions of these roads further. Many roads were constructed and reconstructed but those did not last long due to poor quality works and use of sub-standard materials. Dishonest contractors in collusion with the engineers of the relevant department gained from the deals, but conditions of the roads did not improve exposing the commuters to sufferings. Scores of passengers of buses and other vehicles are getting stranded on the roads due to unbearable traffic jam. Sufferings of those burdened with age, patients and children know no bounds. What is of prime importance is coordination among various departments to ease the sufferings of the people.
