Where public sufferings know no bounds
The sufferings of commuters travelling along Mouchak-Rampura road know no bounds as around a kilometre stretch of it from Mouchak to Abul Hotel remains in an awful state.
The stretch that includes Malibagh Level Crossing area is replete with potholes, hampering smooth vehicular movement and putting the commuters at risk. The sufferings multiply especially during rain as the road gets submerged with water even at the slightest sprinkle of rain.
“My rickshaw fell into a puddle and tipped over around 15 days back in Malibagh Level Crossing area,” said Md Jamal, a rickshaw puller.
“Passengers of my rickshaw got injured in the accident though I luckily escaped,” he said.
Though Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has recently repaired potholes from Malibagh intersection to Mouchak point, the portion from Mouchak to Abul Hotel under jurisdiction of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is still in a bad shape.
Sirajul Islam, a driver of Shohag Paribahan, said poor condition of the road contributes to traffic congestion in Malibagh level crossing area.
“As a result, it sometimes takes one hour to reach Abul Hotel of Rampura from Malibagh Supermarket. It usually takes around 10 minutes to cross the distance,” said Sirajul.
Locals said the eastern side of the level crossing gets waterlogged no matter how much it rains, causing public sufferings and affecting businesses.
Shah Alam, a street vendor in the area, said he cannot run his business during rain as portions of the road get waterlogged.
Though the section of the road was repaired around one and a half months back, it did not last long in the absence of a drainage system, said Mohammad Zakir Hossain, owner of a drug store in the area.
He claimed the daily income of his shop has reduced by fifty percent as customers don't visit his shop as often due to the poor road infrastructure.
Sushanta Kumar Paul, executive engineer of local government engineering department, said the flyover construction work has damaged this one-kilometre stretch of the road.
“We continuously patched up potholes and repaired the entire stretch with concrete,” said Sushanta, also project director of Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover.
As to why they did not keep this portion of the road as a smoothly functional road with asphalted surface, he said, “It would not sustain, as there is no drainage on either side of the road.”
The north city corporation is supposed to take care of it, Sushanta added.
Contacted, Khondoker Mahbubul Alam, executive engineer of zone-3 of DNCC, said they are working on to construct a storm water drainage system and repair roads and footpaths from Bashundhara residential area gate to Rampura Bazar (upto Wasa road) via Rampura Bridge, and are expecting to finish the work by December this year.
As the construction work of the flyover continues on the Rampura side, they are waiting for the work to be completed first, he said.
Then they will focus on repairing the road and constructing a drainage system from Mouchak to Abul Hotel, he added.
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