Overloaded vehicles ply as weighing machine useless
The weighing machine at the axle load control station beside Dhaka-Rangpur highway in Bogura's Mahasthangarh has been inoperative for long which causes a loss of crores of taka.
Ashrafuzzaman, executive engineer of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Bogura, said due to plying of overloaded vehicles they have to spend additional Tk 526 crore every five years to maintain the fitness of the 526 km highway stretching from Banglabandha land port to Dhaka.
There is only one axle load control station on the long highway near Bangabandhu Bridge, which is not enough to prevent plying of overloaded vehicles, he said.
Usually they spend Tk one crore for one kilometre road under major periodic maintenance programme (PMP) every five years, said Ashrafuzzaman.
As the weighing machine has been inoperative since 2015, excessive overloaded vehicles, especially stone-laden trucks from the land port, plying the road are reducing the longevity of the highway earlier than scheduled time, said Bogura RHD Superintendent Engineer Md Sadequl Islam.
Due to this, they have to run the programme for two times during the time and spend twice as much money maintaining fitness for per km of the road as well, said Ashrafuzzaman.
Some goods of Dhaka-bound overloaded vehicles were unloaded before reaching the axle load control station at Bangabandhu Bridge, but after crossing the station, the vehicles were loaded again, said an official of Bogura RHD.
According to the rules of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), maximum weight limit for the two axles vehicle (6 wheels) is 22 tonnes (including the vehicles) for three axles (10 wheels) 30 tonnes and for four axles (14 wheels) maximum 40 tonnes.
“But most of the times we get overloaded vehicles that violate the BRTA rule,” said Ashrafuzzaman.
Foyez Ahmed, inspector of Bogura BRTA office, said they usually conduct regular mobile court, but cannot take legal action against the drivers of the overloaded vehicles as the lone weighing machine in the district has been inoperative for long.
In order to prevent the overloaded vehicles running on Dhaka-Rangpur highway, Bogura RHD set up the axle load control station and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurated it on December 27 in 2014, but the first month of the following year, its weighing machine bought from China at Tk 35 lakh became inoperative.
Superintendent Engineer Sadequl Islam said they tried several times to repair the machine, but failed.
Meanwhile, a leader of the District Motor Workers' Union in 2016 wrote to the executive engineer urging him not to resume use of the axle control machine claiming that the road is not wide enough to operate the machine, said Sadequl.
Abdul Latif Mandol, president of the union, said the highway is not the right place to set up the station as it is too narrow.
Moreover, there is an axle load control station on the west side of Bangabandhu Bridge, so why is it necessary here, he asked.
If the overloaded vehicles are stopped from plying the highway by using the weighing machine, they can save Tk 526 crore every five years, said Ashrafuzzaman.
They informed the higher authorities about the matter several times but to no effect, said Sadequl Islam.