Lalmonirhat-Burimari road turns risky for traffic
Lalmonirhat-Burimari national highway has become risky for traffic movement due to the many potholes that have developed at different points on the road.
Demanding repair of the highway immediately, the motor owners in the district formed a human chain in front their office at Airport Road in the town yesterday.
“It is a national highway, but its condition is like that of a local road. If you take a patient to the district hospital he will become more ill due to the bad condition of the road,” said Manjur Ali of Bhotmari village under Kaliganj upazila.
Sirajul Haque, general secretary of District Motor Owners' Association, said the 120-kilometre journey from Lalmonirhat to Burimari along the highway usually takes about 2.5 hours by bus. But at the moment one would be lucky to arrive in less than five hours due to the uncountable number of potholes.
“Potholes are everywhere, and it's risky. Even with slight rainfall the highway's condition deteriorates further,” said truck driver Jamsher Ali of Kaliganj upazila.
Another truck driver Sunil Chandra Sen of Lalmonirhat town said, “I always try to avoid transporting goods from Burimari land port because the condition of the road is truly awful.” “It's very dangerous, with high possibility of serious accidents. Besides, the extra time it takes leads to higher fuel costs for us,” he said.
Atoar Rahman Babu, an ambulance driver at Hatibandha Upazila Health Complex, said the state of the road has challenged his ability to transport patients to Rangpur Medical College Hospital in good time. “We have to drive slowly, and the extra time expended is undoubtedly hazardous for emergency patients.”
Fazal Miah, a truck owner from Lalmonirhat town, said parts of his truck break very often when using that highway. “The road has been in a bad state for over a year,” he says, “But still no step has been taken to fix it permanently.”
Residents of Kakina area under Kaliganj upazila said they are unable to ride either motorcycles or bicycles on the road due to the potholes, adding that they are using rail communication, avoiding road transport for fear of accident.
Sahidul Islam, estimator of Roads and Highway Department (RHD) in Lalmonirhat, said ten-wheel trucks loaded with 40-50 tonnes of goods from Burimari land port move on the highway round the clock, causing damage to the road. At least five thousand vehicles include one thousand heavy loaded trucks move on the highway every day, he added.
Sultan Ahmed, sub-divisional engineer of RHD in Lalmonirhat, said repair work of the highway is going on. The repairing started from Burimari land port and has reached Hatibandha upazila, he added.
Other roads in the district, including Lalmonirhat-Kulaghat, Lalmonirhat-Mogholhat, Durakati-Chaparhat and Kulghat-Barabari, are also in a sorry state.
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