Ignored for too long

The 22 kilometres road runs through Kharkhari bypass in Rajshahi city and Kanpara.

Hundreds of people use the road on a daily basis as it connects the city with Bagmara and Durgapur upazilas. It is also an important road as it cuts down travel time significantly.

But the road has been lying in a dilapidated condition since the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) repaired it back in 2015. According to locals, potholes started developing on the road just after six months.

Now, it is almost impossible to recognise some parts of the road due to numerous craters and accumulation of mud on it.

As a result, people face immense sufferings even after slight rain as the road becomes muddy and gets submerged. The potholes also make it risky for vehicles and pedestrians to use the road.

During a recent visit, this correspondent saw schoolchildren were walking carefully along the Kharkhari-Kanpara road. Some were covering their noses to protect themselves from dust.

Many parts of the road were waterlogged. A biker almost tripped after his motorbike got stuck in mud.

“The road remains muddy all the time. As a result, vehicles often break down. I try to avoid it most of the time,” said Badsha Mia, driver of a private car.

Most of the drivers echoed him.

Parila Union Parishad Chairman Saiful Bari said buses stopped plying the road due to its condition. “During dry season, locals spray water on it to protect themselves from dust,” he said.

According to RHD officials, the rural areas of Rajshahi have prospered in the last couple of years due to brick kilns and fish cultivation. As a result, traders frequently use the road to deliver and receive supplies such as fish, bricks and clay in trucks.

Such trips take a toll on the road as the mud and water continue to spill on it since those are not properly protected inside the truck, they added.

“Be it winter or dry season, most of the road remains muddy as the trucks continue to carry water and clay through it without covering them properly. They use plastic sheets as cover, but clay and water continue to spill on the road,” said Suniti Chakma, executive engineer of RHD in Rajshahi.

The spilled water and clay remain stagnant on the road, worsening its condition, he added.

He said local municipalities and union parishads have to take initiatives to address the issue.

Not just this road, many other district roads are also in rundown conditions for a lack of maintenance, alleged locals.

When asked, the executive engineer said at least five major district roads are lying in deplorable conditions for around two years due to the excessive number of goods-carrying trucks plying the roads.

He said the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has recently approved a Tk 200 crore project for repairing three of the five roads. They are Hatgodagari-Folia Beel-Mohonganj road (22km), Shibpur-Durgapur-Taherpur road (24.5km), and Rajshahi-Damkura-Amnura road (18km).

The executive engineer said they are likely to invite tenders for the projects in July.

The other two roads -- Puthia-Bagmara-Bhawaniganj (27km) and Ujanpara-Bijoynagar-Matikata (13km) -- are awaiting Ecnec's approval.

Meanwhile, people continue to suffer on the roads due to its conditions.

This correspondent also spoke to some of the truckers who ply the roads frequently. Many of them alleged that the construction of the roads was “faulty and unplanned”.

“We are carrying clay and water in trucks for over 10 years,” said Mokbul Hossain, a trucker. “Why didn't they build roads that can sustain heavy usage?”

The RHD executive engineer, however, said the roads were not constructed in an unplanned way.