Commuters suffer as repaired Gulshan street dug up again
Damage in utility duct made of “low-quality plastic” was the reason
The sufferings of commuters in the capital's posh area Gulshan show little sign of drawing to an end as an almost repaired street there has now been subjected to a renewed spate of digging.
After five to six months of closure owing to the development work, the crucial street, Road-35, was informally opened to vehicles just 15 days ago. Simultaneously, last-minute fine-tuning was going on.
The construction company has said it has had to excavate the road again as the utility duct under the road was damaged at the eleventh hour of the construction.
"We know commuters' sufferings have been prolonged due to the disruption, but we have nothing at hand," said Abdul Hai, owner of the company, Asif Infrastructure Limited.
He told The Business Standard that the company was trying their best to complete the development work fast. "Hopefully, we will be able to do that within the next week."
Meanwhile, construction workers there said they installed the utility duct just 20-25 days ago.
"The duct was made of low-quality plastic pipes, which was why it was damaged. Although the pipes, being installed now, are better than the previous ones, they are not also up to the mark," a worker, seeking anonymity, told this correspondent.
He added that iron-made pipes were needed for the duct.
When asked about the matter, conductor Abdul Hai said the matter of utility duct installation was incorporated later (after the contract), which was why the work could not be done properly.
"We had no prior experience of installing such a duct. Now, we are repairing the utility lines on our own, as compensation," he added.
A visit to the road on Thursday revealed at least 30 newly-dig holes and scattered construction materials on the 60-70 feet wide road. In several places, the whole road was seen being dug up again. As a result, transports were struggling to ply on the road, and often facing minor accidents.
Talking to this correspondent, commuters and local people said the road had been completely unfit for movement for the last several months. With its informal opening, they thought they got a release from their construction-induced sufferings. "But that did not happen. Now we see another problem," said Rawson Begum, who commutes regularly on the road.
"For the last several days, I could ride my bicycle on the road. But now, it seems very tough," said Md Masud, who serves an online food delivery company.
"I found the road okay in the morning, but it turned into an unfit one in the evening," he added.
When contacted, Faruque Hasan Md AL Masud, executive engineer of Dhaka North City Corporation, told The Business Standard that Tk4.81 crore was allocated to repair the 1km road, its adjacent drain and footpath. The deadline for the project was 31 March. "We hope it will be completed soon."
On further digging, he said that was for the utility duct damage and the conductor would bear the cost. "We will not pay extra money."
Meanwhile, DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam on 25 January announced that none would be allowed to dig up roads in the corporation's jurisdiction until further notice.\
On the issue, Abdul Hai said his company's project tenure had not ended yet.
DNCC Councillor for the area (Ward-19) Md Mofizur Rahman told this correspondent that he would look into the matter.
