Sagar Biswas :
It’s a roller coaster ride every day for thousands of people who travel between Dhaka and Mymensingh. It is hardly a three hours journey to Mymensingh from Dhaka. But now, it takes over seven to eight hours even on a private car due to battered condition of road.
The under construction Dhaka-Mymensingh highway not only leads to traffic congestion for hours, but also poses high life risk to motorists of all modes. But who cares?
The journey becomes unhealthy too as the thick cloud of dust makes it impossible for both the commuters and drivers to take an easy breath.
People are tired of appealing to the authorities to complete the project as soon as possible. But it never reaches the ears of the government!
The development project of Dhaka-Mymensingh national highway [NH 3] had begun in July 2010 under the auspices of Roads and Highways Department [RHD]. But only half of the construction works of the 87km-long highway has so far been completed in last four years.
To get a speedy progress, the project was given to the Special Works Organisation [West] of Bangladesh Army in 2012. But the scenario remained almost the same. By this time, project costs have increased 2.5 times, from Tk 880 crore to Tk 1,815 crore. Although Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader hoped that the project would complete by March this year, in reality it is impossible to complete the rest fifty percent work in the stipulated timeframe.
Official sources said a progress report signed by Project Director of Roads and Highways Department Hafizur Rahman, which has recently been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, also expressed uncertainty about completion of the work within the fixed time [March next].
“I think, it is not possible to complete the work within the scheduled time. There are several reasons. One of the reasons is crisis of construction materials along with instrument,” Engineer Rahman said.
Meanwhile, the highway at present has become very risky due to potholes while a large portion of the road is also dilapidated. There is no light along the road for movement after sunset. There is no traffic signal and even no divider on the road. There are several deep tunnels beside the busy road, which virtually misguide the drivers, particularly at night.
During a visit from Dhaka to Mymensingh on January 3, this correspondent witnessed poor condition of road and also spotted potholes in more than 15 points on the highway. The spots include Cheragali in Tongi and Tongi bus stop, Gazipur intersection [chourasta], Rajendrapur intersection, Mawna intersection and Masterbari stand.
Besides, the Bhaluka College Road, upazila headquarters, Hazir Bazar, Kathali, Jamirdia and Seed Store area in Bhaluka upazila are also in deplorable condition
Of them, the conditions of Gazipur intersection, Board Bazar and Mawna intersection in Gazipur are the worst where passengers are often trapped due to severe gridlock stretching several kilometers on both sides.
Awlad Meah, a resident of Gazipur, said that the local people have been suffering due to bad condition of highway for last four years.
An official of Highway Police said, “The slow pace of construction work has been causing long queues of vehicles on both ends of the road.”
According to officials, the project work comprises four packages. Of them, the first package, 12.25km Joydebpur intersection-Rajendrapur intersection, has 47.54 percent completed. The second package, 17.6km road between Rajendrapur and Nayanpur, is 51.82 percent completed.
The third package of 29.6km Nayanpur-Raimoni, executed by China Major Bridges Company in association with local firm Project Builder’s Limited [PBL], is 50.99 percent completed. Besides, the fourth package of 27.32km road between Raimoni and Mymensingh, implemented by the consortium of MCC, SEL and Toma Construction Limited-JB, is 60.55 percent finished.
In total, the average progress of the construction of the four packages stands at 53.5 percent. The army has been working smoothly, but the two other companies lagged behind, sources said.
