Road turns unfit for use within a year of renovation in Sunamganj

Thousands of people in three upazilas of Sunamganj district who travel through Kathir-Jaynagar road every day are suffering to a great extent as the road has become dilapidated and unfit for movement within a year of renovation.

According to the sources at Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the government allocated Tk 78 lakh for the renovation work of the 11-kilometre road stretching from Hossainnagar-Joynagar Bazar, a portion of Madanpur-Jamalganj road in the fiscal year 2017-2018.

Two contractor firms--‘Mahbub Enterprise’ and ‘JR Enterprise’ got the task of the renovation work of the road, reports UNB.

But after one year of the repair work, the road stretching from Hossainnagar to Sardarpur point has turned dilapidated, causing immense sufferings to locals.

 Several thousand people of three upazilas ---Jamalganj, South Sunamganj and Sadar upazilas--- use the road for going to the district headquarters and other divisional cities including Sylhet.

 Local people alleged that the road has become risky for movement due to the use of substandard materials during the renovation work.

 Abu Talib Al Murad, a resident of Barma Uttar village in Mohonpur union, said:  “Though the government allocated money for the repair work of the road on a regular basis but to no use.”

 Saju Talukdar, a resident of Mohonpur village, said: “We requested the authorities concerned to conduct the repair work following government rules but they did not pay any heed to our request.”

 Director of the contractor firm, ‘JR Enterprise’ Mohammad Ripon, said: “We had to count loss while doing the repair work of the road. Though our contract time had expired we filled up the potholes created on the road.”

 Anwar Hossain, engineer of Local Government Division, Sadar upazila, said: “We have given a proposal for the renovation of the road under a big project. Besides, we also sent a letter to the contractor firm concerned to repair the dilapidated parts of the road.”