2km road rutted within 2 months of repair

Only two months after repair, the two-km stretch from Natore to Pabna has developed deep ruts in five points, testing the driving skills of motorists.

Natore Police Lines, Haybatpur, Ahmedpur, Bonpara Bazar and the one-km stretch from Rajapur to Muladul on the national highway, known as N-6, are increasingly becoming accident-prone.

The highway does not even have dividers near every rutted point which makes driving tough, especially during night time.

“Many people had accidents on those spots,” said Abdul Awal, a cleric of a local mosque.

Pointing to a cut mark on his chin, he further said, “I suffered this cut when my motorcycle skidded off this rutted highway at Haybatpur in Natore a month ago.”

“We have been enduring this battered road year after year. We were happy when the road was being repaired in April. But within just two months everything went back to the same state,” said Jamal Uddin, a businessman.

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is aware of the situation but they did not even take a mere step to install some signboards warning the motorists against the upcoming road bumps and ruts which could have prevented some accidents,  he added.

Poor or absence of base or sub-base layers have caused the ruts to appear so soon, said experts and contractors when contacted.

Moreover, frequent movement of heavy and overloaded vehicles, especially the stone-laden trucks from Chapainawabganj, on the route and heavy rainfall have added to the problem. Abu Rawshan, additional chief engineer of RHD, Rajshahi zone, said, “We had plan for only relaying the route due to fund shortage. We did not repair the base or sub-base layers of the road.”

“There is no point relaying the road or only repairing the overlay as they easily get ruined by a few showers or regular movement of heavy vehicles; repairing the base is must,” said a retired roads and highways' engineer of Natore, requesting anonymity.

“It is better not to waste taxpayers' money with poor quality roads,” he added.

According to locals and transport drivers, who use the national highway every day, the road had not seen any repair since after 2003.

However, the roads and highways department officials in Natore claimed that they repaired the road in 2017.

The Daily Star could not arrange any document supporting the claims.

The RHD engineer said they had already sent the contractor concerned a notice to fix the road immediately.  “We have plans for constructing concrete pavements at those damaged points,” he told The Daily Star.

It cost the RHD around Tk 20 crore to repair the stretch in April.