CAPITAL’s potholed and dilapidated roads, lanes and by-lanes are causing acute sufferings to commuters as they find movement from one place to another quite uncomfortable. With the condition of the roads, lanes and by-lanes deteriorating by the day, commuters see no respite from sufferings, reported a local daily.
Poor maintenance, use of substandard materials in construction together with unplanned and uncoordinated road digging are the reasons behind the present situation. Repeated complains fell on the authorities’ deaf ears. The capital’s two city corporations pay no attention.
The ever busy Gulistan-Jatrabari Road and its link roads developed potholes at several points for which it became a one-way road while the other side is closed to traffic near Bangabhaban as this point remains submerged under sewage leaking from DWASA’s sewerage line.
The Gabtoli to Sadarghat Road remained virtually unusable for motorized vehicles over the last seven months as it developed potholes. The Bashabo to Nandipara Road also remained unusable for over six months since DWASA did not repair it after laying drainage pipelines. Senior officials of the two city corporations said out of 2,500 km of roads they maintain 400 km had been dug up by different agencies.
It is a matter of concern when travelling in roads denotes an increase in costs. Rickshaws and other common moods of transport charge double or even triple fares. Due to the dilapidated roads people can even suffer from additional health related costs as they may face an accident at anytime.
Meanwhile the authorities concerned play the blame game as usual as City Corporation officials maintain that the roads repair is the responsibility of the PWD, the RHD as well as the Ministries concerned. But why it is not the responsibility of DSCC or DNCC to maintain roads built by other government organisations is not clear–especially as both the City Corporations have a clear jurisdiction over any public area in Dhaka city.
We think, it is time to stop this blame game process and delegate the power of repairs to one single authority. Temporarily fixing roads which continually break down is an utter wastage of public money.
