<i>Potholes cause frequent mishaps at Postagola </i>
Rickshaw-van puller Rabiul Islam was carrying sandals to Chawk Bazar from Shyampur around noon Monday when one of the wheels collapsed in the middle of a road near Shyampur Police Station. It took him two hours to hire another van and get the goods moving again.
Everything happened just because of the road. The heavily damaged road brought the suffering upon him.
"It will take Tk 800 to repair the van… I was hired for Tk 200. I have to deal with a Tk 600 loss," said Rabiul, who earns between Tk 150 and Tk 300 a day.
Break-down and accidents of vehicles especially rickshaws, rickshaw-vans and CNG-run three wheelers in the potholes of Shyampur Thana Road are almost a regular phenomenon. Buses, minibuses and trucks also break down on the road.
"A few days ago I saw a rickshaw flip on its side with a woman and a six-year-old boy in it. The two were returning from a physiotherapy centre near the police station. They returned with more injuries than they had gone in with," said Azizur Rahman, a staff of a bus ticket counter.
Wasim, a cart pusher, said it took him about 20-30 minutes just to get past a pothole on the road taking help from three helpers.
About 100 pushcarts move on the road carrying heavy items like iron rods and the pushers suffer the most, said Abdus Samad, a pusher of a cart.
The roads in front of the first Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge at Postagola, the underpass of the bridge and nearby roads are also in a very bad condition as there are many potholes on them.
The roads get waterlogged even after a light shower which damages the roads fast, said an official of Roads and Highways Department of Keraniganj branch-2.
Two open manholes pose threats to pedestrians and vehicles just 15 yards away from Shyampur Police Station on Postagola Thana Road.
"I have seen wheels of many vehicles fall into the manholes, especially after rain as the road gets waterlogged," the official said.
The official said rainwater of Jurain area gets stuck on the road as there is no way for the water to recede. He claimed the road was repaired three years ago and it was spoilt quickly due to waterlogging.
"We do temporary repair work on regular basis to keep the road usable," he said.
Firoz Alam, sub-assistant engineer of the Keraniganj branch-2, said they submitted a Tk 10-lakh estimate to repair the potholes to the Munshiganj division 15 days ago. "We will start repairing after the tender process completes."
It is the duty of the Dhaka City Corporation to replace the manhole lids on the Shyampur Thana Road, he said.
Sub-divisional engineer of Roads and Highways Department of Dhaka division, Abdur Rashid said they plan to construct drains which will take the water to the Buriganga to reduce the waterlogging problem.
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