RHD fails to complete a 2.5-km road even after 12 years

The construction of a road in Bogura connecting two hospitals is in limbo. The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) took up the project in 2004 at a cost of Tk 13 crore and a deadline of 3 years. But the road stretching some 2.5-kilometres is yet to be completed, while the project cost has shot up to Tk 201 crore.    

In the last 12 years, the RHD has completed only 800 meters of the road. The department now says that it hopes to complete it by 2020.         

Sources at the RHD say that the construction of the road linking Bogura Mohammad Ali Hospital and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital was halted in 2006.    

At a rally in the district in 2015, prime minister Sheikh Hasina directed officials to complete the road as soon as possible. However, it seems that all her good words fell on deaf ears because the RHD has remained just as idle as it was before.    

Officials say that they faced difficulties in land acquisition and fundraising while building the 10-meter wide road.   

“The project requires the acquisition of 2.57 hectares of land, but so far we have managed to acquire only 1.64 hectares,” said RHD executive engineer Md Ashrafuzzaman.

“We recently received an allocation of Tk 58 crore for land acquisition. Hopefully, the work will be completed by 2020,” he added.   

Meantime, doctors of both the hospitals say that patients are suffering because of the delay in the project.  

Mohammad Ali Hospital is at a key point in Bogura town, so it sees a rush of patients around the clock. 

“We often refer cardiac patients to Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital because it has comparatively modern facilities,” said resident medical officer Dr Shafiq Amin Kajal. 

“However, a patient can’t be shifted there easily because of the traffic,” he added.    

In the meantime, Assistant Director Dr Md Abdul Wadud of Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital said: “Since this medical college hospital is in the outskirts of the town, doctors often can’t get here quickly to attend emergency cases.”