Under-construction road collapses in Lalmonirhat
A road being rebuilt under the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Sadar upazila is breaking down in some places, allegedly due to use of low quality materials in the work.
Villagers, commuters, and transport owners and workers have expressed concern about the longevity of the road as it is collapsing even before its inauguration.
Executive Engineer of LGED in Lalmonirhat Al Amin Khan said an eight-metre-wide by 18-metre-long culvert is being built and road protection work carried out on the 5.53 km-long Mahendranagar-Mostafi road. The work, costing Tk 4.35 crores, is being implemented by a local sub-contractor.
The construction work was started on January 19 in 2016 with the target of completion in June 2016, but the deadline was missed and the second deadline was also missed in December, 2016. The third deadline ends this month (March). Almost all the work of the road and culvert construction has been completed and the road protection work is going on, LGED officials said.
Local Sohrab Hossain, 48, of Mahendranagar village said cracks were found in at least eight places on the under-construction road, which is breaking down at 10 points. “The road has become vulnerable as the contractor used low quality materials for constructing it,” he said, adding that locals informed the LGED officials about the matter, but no steps have been taken.
Transport worker Mobarok Hossain, 35, of the bus terminal area, said, “The road is in an awful condition though only light vehicles move on it. Imagine what will happen when heavy vehicles start moving on it.”
Truck owner Shah Alam said Mahendranagar-Mostafi road is the connecting road to the district headquarters, so it is of great importance. “Huge amount of money has been sanctioned for constructing the road, but the work is substandard,” he said, adding that the broken down road will have a bad impact on transport service and even the district's economic activities.
Sub-contractor Bablu Mia, who is doing the construction work, refused to talk with journalists in this connection.
Executive Engineer Al Amin Khan said the contractor is responsible in this regard and he will do the work according to schedule. “The contractor assured me that he will repair the vulnerable areas before handing over the road,” he said, rejecting the allegation of using low quality materials.
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