Highways in a dire strait

PRESSURE has been mounting on the government to address the state of disrepair of many of the highways connecting different parts of the country. Reports have surfaced showing that as much as 50 kilometres of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway is very badly damaged, causing unbearable amounts of distress to commuters. The paltry state of the roads is a source of suffering for both the passengers, who are forced to sit through long tailbacks, and vehicles, which face the brunt of the damage. Many of the arterial highways of the country including the Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways remain badly cratered and potholed. With the outward rush from Dhaka expected before Eid, one can only imagine the amount of distress the homebound people will face.
Communications minister Obaidul Quader has promised to have all the roads in good working condition by the 20th of July, in time for Eid. However, in most of these places, the repair work is only superficial, with bricks and sand being used to fill up the potholes. The cosmetic repair leaves the highways prone to further damage from rain while the structural faults remain unadressed. We urge the government to take the state of the roads into consideration seriously and to not try and alleviate it in a rush and half-heartedly, prior to festivities. Adequate repair work must be carried out to ease passengers' distress throughout the year and to create at least a workable infrastructure of communication around the country. The onus is now on the authorities to move away from seasonal hyperactivity and focus on long-term upkeep of the highways.