Potholed Dhaka roads woes for commuters

Most roads and lanes in the two city corporations of the capital have turned unfit for vehicular movement as numerous potholes and cracks have developed on those making commuters riding riskier as the authorities have failed to repair those ahead of the rainy season, reports UNB. Traffic comes to a snail’s pace on those roads every now and then creating long tailbacks for hours together, forcing the commuters, mostly school-and office-goers, to reach their destinations late. The public sufferings worsen further when there is rain as many of these roads and lanes go under knee-deep water due to the poor drainage system.Many roads in Rampura, Natun Bazar, Kuril, Baridhara, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Tejgoan, Gulshan Link Road and Badda areas of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), and in Moghbazar, Malibagh, Mouchak,
Rajarbagh, Shantinagar, Kakrail, Jatrabari, Sayedabad and adjacent areas of Mayor Mohammed Hanif Flyover of Dhaka South City Corporation were found to be in the most sorry state during a recent field visit by this UNB correspondent.
Voicing their utter frustration, residents of the areas almost equivocally noted that they had not seen any noticeable efforts from the authorities concerned to minimise their sufferings. Abul Kalam, a resident of Baridhara J-Block, said, “In spite of being a VIP area, there has been no drain so far alongside roads in Baridhara area. Even a moderate rain submerges the Natun Bazar-Kuril road.” However, officials of the two city corporations claimed they have taken several steps and are working on a plan to solve the problem.
Contacted, DNCC additional chief engineer Sayed Qudratullah said, “We’ ve taken a work plan involving Tk 110 crore to repair some 141 km roads out of 1340 km. But we need Tk 204 crore more to complete the task.”
 “We’ll send a Development Project Proposal (DPP) to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) for the additional money,” he added. Meanwhile, Ecnec has approved Tk 200 crore and Tk 120 crore to renovate roads, drains and footpaths in Baridhara-Gulshan-Banani and Uttara areas respectively.
Sought comments, DNCC Mayor Annisul Haque said he got some fund from the government after taking the chair and will utilise that for repairing all the unfit roads gradually. “We’ll jointly work with Wasa to develop the drainage system,” he said.
DSCC officials said they are going to take mid- and long-term plans in accordance with Wasa to solve the water-logging problem alongside the road renovation programme. DSCC CEO Ansar Ali Khan said Ecnec approved the Tk 250 crore to the DSCC for the next two years and they are going to float a tender to start the renovation programme. Echoing the CEO, DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokan said many roads have turned unfit since there was no representative in this city corporation for a long time and those will be repaired soon.

 

 

Potholed Dhaka roads woes for commuters

Most roads and lanes in the two city corporations of the capital have turned unfit for vehicular movement as numerous potholes and cracks have developed on those making commuters riding riskier as the authorities have failed to repair those ahead of the rainy season, reports UNB. Traffic comes to a snails pace on those roads every now and then creating long tailbacks for hours together, forcing the commuters, mostly school-and office-goers, to reach their destinations late. The public sufferings worsen further when there is rain as many of these roads and lanes go under knee-deep water due to the poor drainage system.Many roads in Rampura, Natun Bazar, Kuril, Baridhara, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Tejgoan, Gulshan Link Road and Badda areas of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), and in Moghbazar, Malibagh, Mouchak, Rajarbagh, Shantinagar, Kakrail, Jatrabari, Sayedabad and adjacent areas of Mayor Mohammed Hanif Flyover of Dhaka South City Corporation were found to be in the most sorry state during a recent field visit by this UNB correspondent. Voicing their utter frustration, residents of the areas almost equivocally noted that they had not seen any noticeable efforts from the authorities concerned to minimise their sufferings. Abul Kalam, a resident of Baridhara J-Block, said, In spite of being a VIP area, there has been no drain so far alongside roads in Baridhara area. Even a moderate rain submerges the Natun Bazar-Kuril road. However, officials of the two city corporations claimed they have taken several steps and are working on a plan to solve the problem. Contacted, DNCC additional chief engineer Sayed Qudratullah said, We ve taken a work plan involving Tk 110 crore to repair some 141 km roads out of 1340 km. But we need Tk 204 crore more to complete the task. Well send a Development Project Proposal (DPP) to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) for the additional money, he added. Meanwhile, Ecnec has approved Tk 200 crore and Tk 120 crore to renovate roads, drains and footpaths in Baridhara-Gulshan-Banani and Uttara areas respectively. Sought comments, DNCC Mayor Annisul Haque said he got some fund from the government after taking the chair and will utilise that for repairing all the unfit roads gradually. Well jointly work with Wasa to develop the drainage system, he said. DSCC officials said they are going to take mid- and long-term plans in accordance with Wasa to solve the water-logging problem alongside the road renovation programme. DSCC CEO Ansar Ali Khan said Ecnec approved the Tk 250 crore to the DSCC for the next two years and they are going to float a tender to start the renovation programme. Echoing the CEO, DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokan said many roads have turned unfit since there was no representative in this city corporation for a long time and those will be repaired soon.