Newly renovated road collapses
About one kilometre of the nine-kilometre-long Kulaura-Fulertal road is in an awful condition as the seal coat (top of a carpeted road) has worn away before official handing over of the newly renovated road to the authorities concerned.
Abdur Rashid Khan, a resident of Golapicherra area, said the one kilometre road stretching from Golapicherra Bridge to Kanehat Government Primary School in Kulaura upazila got damaged within a few days of its repair as the quality of the work was not standard.
Abdul Motlib of Kanehat village said the road has become almost unusable for vehicular movement as well as pedestrians as huge potholes and cracks have developed at many places before completion of the repair work, causing immense sufferings to its users, especially school and college going children.
Due to use of sub-standard materials many potholes and cracks have developed on the road only a weak after that portion of the road was repaired, many locals alleged.
CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver Abul Kalam said they have to face tremendous trouble while running their vehicles on the shabby road.
Due to the potholes it takes around 30 minutes to go from one stop of another now, while it took only five to seven minutes earlier, he said.
During a visit to the area this correspondent found the road has been badly damaged at many places, including Fulertal, Kanehat and Golapicherra areas.
According to Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the repair work of the nine-kilometre road is in progress under the Second Rural Transport Improvement Project (RTIP-II), funded by the World Bank (WB).
As the lowest bidder, Muhibur Rahman, owner of MR Trading, got the work order at a cost of over Tk 4.93 crore under the supervision of LGED Kulaura Upazila Engineer Istihaq Hasan.
The renovation work started on September 5 last year and it was scheduled to be completed by March this year, but the construction firm concerned extended the scheduled time till December 2018.
Contractor Muhibur said, “We have not completed the repair work yet and neither have we handed over the responsibility to the concerned authority.”
LGED Upazila Engineer Istihaq said they were investigating the matter and if the contractor concerned is found responsible in this regard stern action will taken against him.
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