Rain leaves 300km roads battered

Around 30 percent of the port city roads are left in dilapidated conditions due to the onslaught of rain during this monsoon, escalating sufferings of the commuters and residents.

Around 300km city roads out of 1,066km were affected this monsoon, highest in the recent years, according to the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) sources.

During monsoons, around 100km roads were affected in 2014 while 150km in 2015 and 110km in 2016, said CCC officials.

The CCC spent Tk 501 crore from 2013-14 to 2016-17 fiscal in road maintenance and development.

This time it sought Tk 500 crore from the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives for repairing the affected roads, said CCC sources.

Due to the roads' deplorable conditions, commuters often fall victim to accidents on the roads filled with numerous potholes. Some also got killed in the accidents.

On August 13, three people were killed and two others injured when a container carrying trailer flipped over a CNG-run auto-rickshaw near Nimtala on the worn-out Port Connecting Road.

Mainul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bandar Police Station, said the accident occurred as the driver of the trailer lost control over the steering after hitting a pothole.

Last week, Rifat Binte Imran, a Chittagong College student, was badly injured as she fell from a rickshaw after it hit a pothole in CDA Avenue area near Muradpur.

Moreover, roads in the low-lying areas went under knee- to waist-deep water for hours numerous times during this monsoon, worsening the condition of the roads.

Also, the ongoing construction works of flyovers in different thoroughfares have deteriorated the situation further.

For example, Bahaddarhat to Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge Link Road is in a derelict state. Many portions of the road have become damaged and bumpy, causing the commuters experience moon ride on their way.

Residents of Rahattar Pool area, Tapati Barman and her husband went to a marriage ceremony in C&B Colony area last week.

They started from their house on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. It took 20 minutes to reach their destination. Not only the journey was bumpy, they also had to face a different problem.

“Once we got off the vehicle, we found that both of us were covered in dust,” said Tapati.

The couple had to commute through two roads -- Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge to Bahaddarhat Road and Bahaddarhat to GEC Road -- on that day. The former became dilapidated due to waterlogging while the latter due to the construction work of a flyover.

The most affected roads are Port Connecting Road, Bahaddarhat to Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge Road, Bahaddarhat to Kalurghat Road, Bahaddarhat to GEC Intersection, Muradpur to Oxygen Intersection, Sholashahar Gate 2 to Bayezid Bostami Road and Agrabad Access Road.

During a visit, it was seen that potholes and dust engulfed Bahaddarhat to Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge Road. Vehicles were moving at a snail's pace to avoid unwanted accidents on the 7km road.

Some of the portions of the road, including Tulatoli, Kalamia Bazar, Rahattar Pool and Bahaddarhat 1Km Road, were in a deplorable state.

Abdul Halim, driver of a city bus, said it took around 45 minutes to pass the road due to its condition. “It's not supposed to take more than 25 minutes. Fearing accident, I remain cautious while driving.”

Condition of the other roads including Bahaddarhat to GEC, Bahaddarhat to Kalurghat and Muradpur to Oxygen Intersection remained the same during a visit last week. 

Contacted, Anwar Hossain, superintendent engineer of CCC, said the CCC had already started its road repairing works.

“We have filled up the potholes in many roads using brickbats. Once the monsoon is over, we will start carpeting the roads. One third of the affected roads have been repaired this way.”

“Also, we will start renovation works on Port Connecting Road and Agrabad Access Road shortly with funding from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica),” he said.

Meanwhile, many of the commuters and drivers said the brickbats used for filling up the potholes washed away due to the rain.

Mohammad Forkan, a rickshaw-puller, said brickbats that covered the potholes in Chawkbazar KB Aman Ali Road were gone after a few days of rain.

Asked, superintendent engineer Anwar Hossain said they could not go for full carpeting on the affected roads before the dry season as rain is the number one enemy of bitumen, a vital equipment for the road-carpeting works.