Road Worth Nearly 30 Million Taka Collapses Before Inauguration, Propped Up With Bamboo and Sandbags

❐ Local correspondent

An HBB road built at a cost of around Tk 27.2 crore in the Nalam area of ​​Dhamsona Union in Savar has collapsed at various places before its official inauguration.

Although the construction work that has been going on for several years has recently been completed, there have been incidents of cracks, landslides and blocks shifting in several places on the road in a short period of time. This has raised questions about the quality of construction and project implementation, as well as anger among the locals.

This 1,275-meter-long and 3-meter-wide road was constructed from Mukendra House to Karim Para Bridge with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Disaster Risk Management Improvement Project (DRMIP).

Three small culverts have also been constructed under the same project.

Landslides occurred in various parts of the road within a few days of the completion of construction work in June of this year.

On-site inspection showed that large holes have been created due to soil subsidence at several places on the road, HBB blocks have shifted in many places and the edges of the road have collapsed. Temporary bamboo fences and sandbags have been installed at risky areas to avoid any accidents.

However, locals fear a major accident as many people and vehicles travel on this road every day.

In this regard, local resident Md. Maqbul said, “The road has been built at a cost of crores of taka. But now, far from driving, people are afraid to even walk. The ground has collapsed because the guide wall was not installed properly.”

Another resident, Faisal Hossain, said, “It seems that there have been irregularities in the entire road work. The road is collapsing within a few days of the completion of the work.”

An artist named Akhtar said, “The road started breaking after the work was completed. Now, the broken areas have been blocked with bamboo.”

Locals complain that the required standards were not maintained in the construction work and that strong guardrails were not built to protect the sides of the road. They also claim that the foundation of the road has become weak due to the use of soil brought from the river, which has been washed away in heavy rains.

They also believe that if the quality of work was ensured, the road would not have been damaged so quickly.

According to sources, most of the project bills have already been collected by the contracting company. However, despite an application for a waiver of the last installment, the authorities concerned have suspended the bill for the time being considering the current condition of the road.

Sirajul Islam Sumon, a representative of the contracting company, Messrs. Saleha Enterprises, said that the soil along the road collapsed due to excessive rain and natural causes. Stating that the soil used was collected from the river area, he said that the damaged part will be repaired quickly and the project will be properly delivered.

Savar Upazila Project Implementation Officer Md. Faizul Islam said that some of the project work was not up to standard, so the final bill has been withheld.

He said that new work will have to be done to repair the damaged parts and pillars of the culvert, and the next decision will be taken only after the repairs are completed.

Upazila Executive Officer Md. Saiful Islam told reporters that the project has not yet been formally accepted. The contractor will have to remove all the defects and repair the broken parts according to the new design, and no outstanding bills will be paid until the work is completed satisfactorily, he said.

Locals claim that such consequences of a development project implemented at a cost of crores of taka are in no way acceptable. They have demanded an investigation into the quality of the construction work, holding those responsible accountable, and rebuilding the road through a long-term solution.