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Commuters suffer for potholed roads

Star Country Desk
Potholed roads and highways in different areas across the country add to the woe of commuters, especially at the onset of the rains.
An important road in Basail upazila of Tangaii has been in very bad shape for the last three years due to lack of repair.
The seven-kilometre-long road under Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) stretches from Basail graveyard intersection on Basail-Sakhipur Road to Kawaljani village. Of this, around 1.5 kilometres from graveyard intersection to Basail Uttarpara area is situated in Basail municipal area.
The road has become almost unusable for vehicles as well as pedestrians as big potholes have developed on many points of the road due to movement of over-loaded trucks and also heavy rain, passengers and transport workers said.
There are around 50 small and large potholes at different places on the road from Basail to Kawaljani and they appear like ponds after rain, said Ekabbar Hossain, driver of a battery-run auto-rickshaw.
Accidents happen regularly and people sustain injuries when three-wheelers turn turtle on the potholes, he added.
The road is the only way of communication between the north, north-east and north-west areas
with the upazila headquarters, said AK Bijoy, a rights activist in Basail.
Around one lakh people ofSadar, Kawaljani and Fulki unions, and adjacent Basail Uttarpara, Suinya, Kalia, Badiajan, Gilabari Dumlibari, Kalyanpur, Bartha and Molianpur villages use the road everyday, he said.
Upazila Engineer Azmat Hossain said, "We will check the condition of the road and send a proposal to the higher authorities immediately for carrying out repair work of the road as soon as possible."
Knee-deep potholes have developed on the Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway in Burimari Bazar area under Patgram upazila of Laimonirhat in the last one and a half months, much to the suffering of commuters and transport workers.
Truck driver Nabirul Islam, 45, of Burimari land port, said at least 12 knee-deep potholes developed on the road within a 300-metre area on Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway near the Burimari land port over one month ago, but the authorities concerned are yet to take steps to repair it. "We spend 35 to 40 minutes to cross the area due to the potholes, while it took only four minutes a month ago," he said.
Jam is a common phenomenon here.
"If the potholes are not repaired immediately, they will become deeper, snapping communication with the land port," said another truck driver
AsadAli, 48.
Awlad Hossain, 48, president of Burimari land port unit of Truck and Tank-lorry Sramik Union, said local transport workers dump sand mixed earth in the potholes only for keeping connection with the land port open.
District Roads and Highways Department Executive Engineer Md Alo Noorayen said the road was repaired six months ago, but it got damaged due to movement of overloaded vehicles round the clock.
The 30-km-long Kalapara upazila town to Kuakata alternative road via Baliatoli is in very bad shape due to lack of repair for the last six months.
The only ferry service at Baliatoli point on the Andhamanik river has remained stopped for four years, creating more pressure on the road.
LGED built the Kalapara-Kuakata alternative road via Baliatoli and Dhulashar bazar in 2006 to ease communication between Kalapara town and Kuakata beach.
Many tourists use the alternative road as they can easily go to Gongamoti area, about 6-km from Kuakata zero-point. Tourists also use the road to visit the Misreepara Buddho temple, the largest temple in the country, and Gongamoti reserve forest.
People of Baliatoli, Dhulashar, Mithaganj and Lalua unions use the road to go to Kalapara upazila headquarters and Kuakata sea beach. Some Dhaka-bound passenger buses also ply the road.
About 9-km of the road from Dhulashar bazar to Alipur bazar is in an awful condition as the seal coat (top of a carpeted road) has worn away and many potholes have developed, he added.
Kalapara Upazila Engineer Md Abdul Mannan said they are preparing an estimate for repairing the road and it will be sent to the higher authorities for approval.
Away in Pabna, local people staged a demonstration in Ishwardi upazila on Wednesday, protesting damage of a newly built road, a day after its construction was completed.
Although locals blamed its poor construction with substandard materials, the officials concerned claimed that plying of loaded trucks during the construction work caused the sudden damage.
LGED constructed the four-kilometre road, stretching from Asna GPS to Chanmari Intersection of the upazila, at a cost ofTk 82 lakh.
Locals said the construction firm concerned completed the work on Monday, but a portion of the upper surface of the road was eroded the next day due to use of substandard materials.
"We have already issued a letter to the construction firm concerned asking it to repair the damaged portion before officially handing over the road,” LGED Upazila Engineer Md Enamul Kabir said.
Our correspondents from Tangaii, Laimonirhat, Patuakhali and Pabna contributed to this report.