Nightmare on the Khulna streets
Waiting hours in gridlocks and treading carefully on footpaths have become the norm for Khulna city dwellers due to the haphazard work to improve drainage, which is showing no sign of completion since it started in 2019.
As part of the renovation work, authorities have dug up drains at the roadside, and piles of earth, bricks and sand now cover the roads. This has narrowed existing roads, multiplying the suffering of both commuters and pedestrians.
Footpaths at some important locations -- especially at the city's Sonadanga, Phulmarket, Boyra Bazar areas, and on Khan Jahan Ali Road, Lower Jashore Road, Haji Mohsin Road, and Ahsan Ahmed Road -- are completely unusable.
Such delays are nothing new. Once construction starts in an area, authorities fail to finish the work in time.
According to Khulna City Corporation (KCC), authorities had started reconstructing 225 drains and culverts, and dug seven canals to expand them in 31 wards, spending Tk 823.79 crore.
Out of the total 192-km stretch of drains, works on only 81 km (120 drains) have been completed so far.
The renovation project was passed in 2018, and work began in 2019 officially. The work is scheduled to end in 2023, but authorities told this correspondent that they will not be able to complete the work in time.
Visiting different areas of KCC -- notably those in wards 23, 22, 19, 14 and 17 -- this correspondent saw piles of dirt on the road due to the construction work. The slow progress of work has left 15 important roads completely unusable for almost two months.
Besides, the culvert at Karimnagar of Sonadanga Notun Rasta Road has remained incomplete for four months now, causing regular gridlocks in the area, as Khulna Medical College Hospital is just a few yards away from the culvert.
Construction of drains and pipes in going on in at least 50 roads, including Khanhajan Ali Road, Lower Jashore Road, Haji Mohsin Road, Ahsan Ahmed Road, South Central Road, Tutpara Main Road, Shamsur Rahman Road, BK Main Road, Miapara, Munshipara Road, Boyra, and Sonadanga.
Shariful Islam Salim, a resident of ward-17, said sewage work beside his residence started in February 2022.
"I went to the project's chief engineer and other KCC high officials several times to enquire about the issue. But they didn't have any information to provide. I decided to apply under Right to Information Act, but they discouraged me," he said.
Ahona Islam, a seventh-grader of Khulna Government Girls High School and resident of ward-17, said, "The drain in our neighbourhood has remained broken for eight months. Many students walk over the drain with danger. No one knows when our misery will end."
Ziaul Ahsan Titu, a contractor who is renovating a drain in ward-17, said it's getting difficult to finish work as the price of construction materials rose by fifty percent since the time the work was scheduled.
Local businessman Asit kumar Paul said, "As per rules of the work site, the contractor's address along with a description of the work should be mentioned. However, these signboards don't exist."
Contacted, Md Manzurul Islam, chief engineer of KCC, said, "We regret that our development projects are causing temporary suffering to residents, but it's necessary to widen the drainage systems."
"KCC couldn't work properly due to Covid-19. However, we've sent a proposal to the ministry concerned to extend the timeline of the work, which is awaiting approval," he added.
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