Sajedul Islam
There are some busy roads in Dhaka which are mostly used by office going people and pedestrians. One of them is the Begum Rokeya Sharani road, which is an important road to reach the commercial area of Motijhil through Farmgate and Karwanbazar. Thousands of vehicles use this road. However, this road has been in dillipated condition for more than 2 years due to the construction of Metro Rail.
Office going people like me usually use a common road to reach their office and work places every day. However, I have to use the Mirpur-1 to Mirpur-14 route regularly which remains in dusty or muddy condition. The road has become almost unusable as loosened earth, bricks are heaped in piles or littered messily on the road as there is a construction project going on for a long time.
Unplanned road digging creates unavoidable sufferings for the
city dwellers. Most of the dug roads are not repaired timely. As
a result, roads become blocked and lose durability very quickly
However, several hundred residents of this area are being forced to use this road on a regular basis. Especially during the upcoming rainy season, the condition of the road will become more vulnerable. However, there is no alternative way to avoid it.
These two examples are the common scenario of most of the roads of Dhaka city. In Dhaka, roads are bring constructed or renovated throughout the year. Roads are being dug indiscriminately. However, in most of the cases, authorities do not follow the construction guidelines properly. Most of the dug roads are not repaired timely. As a result, roads become blocked and lose durability very quickly.
Unplanned road digging creates unavoidable sufferings for the city dwellers. Many affected people alleged that construction companies of the development projects don’t pay attention to their sufferings.
However, this chaotic problem can easily be solved by following some examples of the developed countries. Every year, government officials take training from the developed countries. However none of these are implemented. Sometimes, the media focuses on some specific part of the problems but major portions are being kept behind the scenes. As a result, nobody has any idea when and how the road inconvenience will end.
Sajedul Islam is a journalist at China Radio International.
