The hellish road in Jurain
There was water everywhere on the road, mostly knee-deep.
Until his CNG-run autorickshaw got stuck in a large pothole, driver Abdul Karim did not have any idea how terrible the road was underneath the water.
His ordeal did not end there as the passenger sustained injuries in the face and he had to take him to a hospital in Dayaganj hiring a different autorickshaw. On top of that, Karim had to count Tk 4,000 loss to fix his damaged vehicle.
It all happened in the capital near Gendaria railway station on Jurain Road that has been in this state for several years.
Especially during the monsoon, the pothole-riddled submerged road causes damages to vehicles and injuries to commuters, but the authorities do not seem to take notice of the residents' plight.
Thousands of people suffer on the road every day and there is a railway station on the road, but Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) authorities remain unmoved, said locals.
Locals and transport workers dumped construction debris and brick chips in the potholes several times as a makeshift solution to improve the condition, but after a few days the road returns to the same sorry state, they said.
Kazi Mohammad Borhan Uddin, executive engineer of DSCC (zone 5), said they are aware of the road's condition and it will be repaired before Eid-ul-Fitr.
Recently, police placed a road barrier in front of the largest potholes -- submerged for weeks under stagnant water -- on a section of the road so vehicles could avoid accidents.
But now the barrier is causing a bottleneck on the road, resulting in long tailbacks.
“The condition of this road so terrible that it's a nightmare to drive on it. On May 19, all human haulier drivers on this route chipped in to pay for dumping some rubble on the road to make it passable,” said Noor Islam, a human haulier driver on Jurain-Dayaganj route.
“But the condition didn't improve much as it was a temporary solution,” he added.
“The road could be safer only if the authorities paid a little attention, but they want the condition of the road to get worse. That way, they can pocket a handsome amount of money,” Noor said.
Police Sub-Inspector Nurul Islam said they also dumped brick chips on a section of the damaged road, even though it is not their duty.
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