The nightmare on Ctg roads
Moving from one place to another has become a nightmare for the residents of Chittagong city.
Subsequent waterlogging caused by the monsoon and by tidal water all throughout the year has taken a toll on roads of the second largest city in the country.
As soon as the residents step out of their houses, they find themselves in streets that are either submerged in water or dotted with large potholes. If they are fortunate enough to find a transport, they brace themselves for a bumpy ride that may end up horribly.
Aside from natural causes, dug out roads for ongoing work by different utility service authorities have worsened the situation. Traffic congestion on these roads has turned chronic with unmarked trenches filled with water and piled up earth turned into slippery mud.
Having no other choice, passengers in vehicles, especially light ones, plying these treacherous roads hold onto their seats to escape physical injuries, if not fatal accidents.
Office-goer Shafqat Hossain said to get to Bahaddarhat from GEC intersection on any type of vehicle, one has to expect a rocky ride and lose a tremendous amount of time as there are at least a thousand potholes on the road.
With good road conditions “it usually takes around 15 minutes to pass this distance of three kilometres, but now it takes almost an hour,” he added.
Rickshaw puller Javed Mia said his rickshaw fell into a large hole in this road a few days back. “Two of my passengers got injured in the accident, but I was lucky to escape.”
Mohammad Shariful, a bus driver, said his bus was damaged three days ago when a wheel of his bus fell in an oversized pothole in the same road.
The city roads now are absolutely unfit for plying vehicles, he observed.
After visiting the city roads, this correspondent also found most roads in a deplorable state.
Port link road, Agrabad Access Road, DT Road, Polytechnic Road, Stand Road, Agrabad Sheikh Mujib Road, CDA Avenue, Arakan Road, Hathazari Road, Bayezid Bostami Road, Kapasgola Road, Firingi Bazar Mariners Road, Jubilee Road, Khaza Road, Mia Khan Road, Airport Road, OR Nizam Road, KB Aman Ali Road and numerous roads in Bakalia area are to name a few.
Every person this correspondent spoke with expressed dissatisfaction over the state of the roads and urged the authorities to remedy their sufferings.
According to Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), the incessant rain during last one month has damaged around 30 percent of roads in the city with an estimated cost of Tk 500 crore.
Lt Col Mohiuddin Ahmed, chief engineer of CCC, said the roads that were already in bad condition have been affected most by the recent torrential rain.
Even though “we have been continuing the repair work of the roads, these [roads] return to their previous state due to rain,” he said, adding that they have undertaken several more projects to reconstruct the roads.
“We could not start permanent repair work due to continuous rain.” The tender process for Tk 166 crore worth of permanent road repair work in different wards have been completed and the work will start soon after the rainfall stops, he also said.
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