Potholes make city dwellers’ life hell

Countless potholes forming pools of stagnant rainwater on most roads, lanes and by-lanes of the Dhaka city are what the commuters and pedestrians are destined to face every day.
Needless to say, this sorry state of the streets has made movement from one place to another a nightmarish experience and the situation turned the worst after the monsoon showers began in June, with the authorities concerned remaining as indifferent as ever.
Both Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation officials said they had around 1,340 kilometre roads under the DNCC and 1,000 kilometer under the DSCC.
Two-thirds of the roads were more or less damaged by rain and other reasons, they admitted.
Locals have blamed poor maintenance, substandard construction, unplanned digging by different agencies for the lack of their coordination and unapproved heavy vehicle movement on the roads.
Many others hold indiscriminate road digging by authorities concerned just ahead of rainy season and delay in repairing those responsible for increased public sufferings, particularly in Badda, Rampura, Banasree, Malibagh, Khilgaon, Goran and Mirpur.
During visits to the DIT road from Malibagh to Rampura, thousands of ditches were seen including some craters about three-feet deep.
Dhaka South city mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon said that they completed preparation for repairing their damaged roads.
‘We will have them repaired soon,’ he said.
Chief executive officer of Dhaka North City Corporation Md Mesbahul Islam admitted the terrible condition of streets and blamed it on downpour.
He said they could not start repairing the roads as rain continued.
‘Within one month after the rain stops, we will repair all the roads,’ he said.
He said they permitted city utility providers to dig road considering importance of the development work during rains.
Locals complain that rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and human haulers are charging higher fares as vehicles cannot ply the run-down points easily and accidents due to the bad condition of streets are frequent.
Thirty-five-year-old rickshaw puller Amzad Hossain said his rickshaw tumbled three times at Rajarbag with passengers, leaving his rickshaw damaged and him and his passengers injured.
‘Such accidents increase many folds when the roads are submerged by rain water,’ he observed.
Drivers often complain of having axles of the vehicles broken, shock absorbers ruined, radiators smashed and prop shafts dislodged on a regular basis.
Great Turag Paribahan bus driver Anower Hossain said that he made only two trips on Monday when previously he would make five trips from Abdullahpur to Jatrabari via Pragati Sarani.
He said a number of buses of the same company went out of order recently due to the horrible condition of the roads and were now at garage.
Motorcyclists and pedestrians say they suffer more as majority of the roads go under rain water even after a light rain.
Locals blamed the city corporations that they did not repair the roads for long, rather permitted different agencies to dig them since raining began in April, who left the road unrepaired.
The roads in the most miserable condition are Pragati Sarani, Gabtoli to Sadarghat road, Bashabo to Nandipara road, Mirpur road, Jatrabari road, Manikganar Bishwa road, Mazar Road, Khilgaon to Goran road, Begum Rokeya Sarani, Dhanmondi to Rayerbazar and the others while lanes and by-lanes of Mirpur area, Khilgaon area, Mohammadpur, Bashabo, Badda and old part of the capital were worse.
Locals said that the holes in some places were so deep that they look like water body.
DSCC ward 1 councillor Wahidul Hasan Milton claimed that all the roads of Khilgoan were repaired under a project but the roads turned horrible after Dhaka WASA dig the roads haphazardly.
Locals demand that the roads are mended immediately and asked the city corporation not to do any construction work during the rainy season and not to allow other agencies to do it either.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net