Potholes put Ctg city dwellers to sufferings

Chittagong city dwellers seem fated to suffer immensely once they are on the city streets with numerous potholes.
Many roads including Agrabad Access Road, Kapashgola Road, Bayezid Road, CDA Avenue Road, Arakan Road and Shah Amanat Bridge Connecting Road have become unfit for traffic as so many potholes and cracks have developed there.
Traffic on those roads has now become unsafe, city dwellers have alleged, saying that several road accidents took place just in a couple of weeks in the port city due to dilapidated roads.
On August 13, three people were killed as a CNG-run auto-rickshaw was crushed under a trailer (used to carry containers) on Port Connecting Road near Nimtala due to a pothole. 
After the incident the Chittagong City Corporation authorities repaired the road. 
The city dwellers have blamed poor maintenance, substandard construction, unplanned road digging by different agencies and unapproved heavy vehicle movement for the situation.
Many others blame road digging by different 
authorities just ahead of rainy season and delay in repairing those for the increased public sufferings on the city roads and lanes.
Md Abu Sayed, a resident of Bakalia, said Bahaddarhat to Shah Amanat Bridge Road was unfit for traffic. 
A resident of Bahaddarhat area, Md Nurul Huda, also a lecturer at Imam Gazzali College, said drivers of small vehicles like rickshaw and CNG-run auto-rickshaw usually showed no interest to go to Bahaddarhat to Madunaghat road because of its bad condition.
He said people were forced to spend one to two hours extra on the road time as traffic jam was a regular phenomenon for the battered condition of the road.
Nurul Huda blamed poor maintenance, substandard construction, unplanned road digging by different agencies and unapproved heavy vehicle movement on the roads for the situation.
Chittagong Development Authority is constructing Akhtaruzzaman Flyover from Muradpur to Lalkhanbazar. 
They almost completed their construction works but the roads under the flyover were still in a bad shape. If it rains, traffic on the road gets completely stalled. 
Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority is constructing new water transmission pipeline from Bahaddarhat to Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant. 
Because of digging on the road stretch, there were numerous potholes, which have made it difficult for people to use it. 
Roads and Highway Department is developing Bahaddarhat-Karnaphuly Shah Amanat Bridge Road to four lanes since April 2017. 
There are around 1100 kilometer roads under Chittagong City Corporation, according to CCC officials. 
CCC’s acting chief engineer Rafiqul Islam told New Age that they already completed preparation for repairing the damaged roads in the city corporation areas and the repair work would start soon.
He blamed the monsoon rain and waterlogging for the huge number of potholes on the city streets.
He said, ‘Almost every year monsoon rain and tidal water affect city roads. Last year many roads were damaged. We spent around Tk 200 crore in last fiscal for repairing and constructing the damaged roads.’ 
Rafiqul said among the worst-affected roads they repaired Airport Road, Port Connecting Road, Agrabad Access Road and Mariners Road. 
Within two or three days they would start repair of other roads, he assured. 
Acting chief engineer said three other major roads in the city Bahaddarhat-Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge, Bahaddarhat-Kalurghat and Bahaddarhat-Lalkhan Bazar were affected by development works of different government authorities.
He said Roads and Highway Department was constructing Bahaddarhat-Karnaphuli Bridge road while Chittagong WASA dug different spots of Bahaddarhat-Kalurghat road. 
Bahaddarhat-Lalkhan Bazar road was damaged due to the constructions of Aktaruzzaman Flyover under the management of Chittagong Development Authority.
Md Tofail Miah, executive engineer of Roads and Highway Department (Dohazari Circle), said that elevation works of Bahaddarhat-Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge Road to four lanes were being delayed by the monsoon rain. 
‘The construction works will need more time because of rain and electric poles on the road,’ said Tofail. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net