Surface of Tk 1.2-cr road comes off with bare hands!
Chunks of asphalt layer can be pried apart with bare hands from a Tk 1.2-crore road built recently in Kumarkhali upazila.
Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) completed carpeting of the 1.5-kilometre road between Lalon Bazar and Dharmapara in the upazila on June 21.
According to LGED, contract of the work was awarded to ‘Rashedul Harun Sujon Traders’ from Kushtia and the contractor started the work in February this year.
The defect in the asphalt pavement came to light before the contractor handed the road over to LGED.
Rakibul, a youth from Dharmadah village and one of the several others who first came across the flaw in the road, said on June 24, he first noticed a bubbled-up spot on the road peeling off as soon as he jumped on it from a van.
Noticing the incident, others came to the spot and were able to pry apart pavement chunks off the road with bare hands, without applying much effort, said Arshed Ali, another villager.
Many villagers told this correspondent that soon after the work began, they suspected quality was being compromised in the road work as the contractor was using substandard materials.
“We informed local LGED engineers [of the matter], but they did not pay heed,” said schoolteacher Robiul Islam.
While speaking with this correspondent, the contractor firm’s co-owner Harun-or-Rashid claimed that they finished the road according to specifications set by the LGED.
Echoing his claim, Abdur Rahim, engineer of LGED in Kumarkhali upazila, said the work was done as specified and “people, who are prying apart the surface of the road, are committing an unlawful act”.
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