A large portion of the Narayanpur-Dulalkandi Road in Belabo upazila of Narsingdi district constructed by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGRD) fell into a dilapidated condition, which happened surprisingly within three years of the completion of its work.
According to local sources, around 5 kilometres of the road worsened in a short time as gigantic potholes developed at major points.
The road is very important to locals as it has connected Narayanpur and Dulakandi bazaars through Narayanpur, Batibond, and Dulalkandi.
LGRD constructed the road in the year 2000.
After three years of construction, the road got damaged and has not seen any repair work in the last 17 years. Water-filled potholes and cracks all over the road are a cause of worry for drivers as well as pedestrians. Autorickshaw drivers Abdul Alim, Azizul Haq, Momin Ali, and Kolom Ali said it is risky to drive vehicles on this road.
“As the top layer of the road has been washed away, it is full of dust during the dry days and when it rains, it turns muddy,” said driver Abdul Alim.
Locals alleged that asphalt and gravel started getting loose just some days after the end of the carpeting and since then the condition of the track has been worsening over the course of time.
As a result, major and minor accidents continued to occur on the road, and many of them were even fatal. When vehicles ply on the road, drivers struggle to keep control over their vehicles.
Some passengers opined that they used to face dense hazardous dust and intolerable shaking while passing the road.
According to locals, the road also breaks the cars, which may cause accidents. Many people think that this road section needs capital repairs.
Rafiqul Isalm, who commutes by the road regularly, said: "We cannot carry goods by the road as drivers do not want to use the road for its deplorable condition. We are in great danger because of the road. If the road is repaired soon, we will get rid of the problem."
A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, Ibrahim Mian, said: "We have to suffer very much for running our vehicles on this road. After driving for the whole day, we become extremely tired. Our vehicles get easily damaged. As a result, we have to spend a lot on repairing our vehicles."
There are various educational institutions on both sides of the road. The students of those institutions suffer much while crossing the road.
Tahsan Tonmoy, a student of Narayanpur High School said: "We are suffering much due to travelling on this road. Our uniforms become dirty."
In this connection, LGRD Engineer Mofazzel Haider said: “A project of Tk60 lakh has been taken up to repair the road.”
