Tejgaon intersection: Unceasing woes for commuters

With the ongoing construction work at the Tejgaon intersection, close to the Tejgaon Industrial area in the capital, commuters seem to be stuck in a never-ending loop of miseries.

The development work, which has been in progress for some seven months along a two kilometres area on the road, started back in July and has a completion deadline until 2 March with 65% of work so far completed.

The road, which is full of potholes, is now a nightmare for those who need to use the road for their daily movement as constructions are ongoing on both sides of the road.

On one side, construction of a median is in progress, while a sidewalk and drainage system is being constructed on the other side. As a result, vehicles and pedestrians passing through this road are suffering from regular traffic jams alongside constant dust pollution.

Road repair equipment including construction materials and rods from the ongoing construction is left unprotected all over the road, which is full of mud, bricks and broken bricks. Although the road is watered twice in the morning and at noon, the usual dusty atmosphere returns within 30 minutes of watering.

According to the Dhaka North City Corporation, the work is taking longer than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Maisha Construction Limited, the construction company, says they are lagging in the schedule because they were not allowed to proceed according to their plan. However, the company claims that the work will be completed by April.

"We planned to close down the road for a few months and complete the work, which we could not do. Now, we are forced to continue the construction in parts and the suffering is lingering as a result," Mofazzal Hossain, site engineer of Maisha Construction Limited, told The Business Standard.

He further said that due to the new drainage channel and median on this road, it will take a little more time than initially estimated.

"Hopefully we will be able to finish the street carpeting within a month," he added.

The road has been uneven with random potholes all over resulting in daily gridlocks for the past few years. Besides, even light rain led to waterlogging on the road, leaving it unsuitable for movement. To solve these problems, the construction work began in July last year.

Locals say, since the beginning of work, the progress has been really slow. As the road is dug in different places, walking on the road is also extremely difficult during the monsoon.

The development work of this road, which is 1920 metres long and 60 feet wide, has an allocation of Tk20.40 crore. This road is connected with Mohakhali Shaheed Tajuddin Road, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Niketan, Gulshan and Hatirjheel.

Tasfia Begum, who regularly travels on this road, told The Business Standard, that she must take a shower after walking through the road due to dust.

"I'm always suffering from cough and cold," she said.

Hamidur Rahman used to travel to his office at Kawran Bazar through this road. He told The Business Standard that the road is so dusty that if you own a bike and use this road daily, you will have to service your bike every month.

"This has been the situation for the past two-three years. God knows when the broken road will be fixed," he said.

According to locals, freight trucks sometimes get stuck on the road causing long traffic jams as only one lane is open for vehicle movement due to the development work

Miron Hossain, a driver of a private car, told The Business Standard, "I try to avoid this road. But, it is not always possible. The road is so dusty that the very colour of the vehicle changes once I pass through the road. It is especially bad for the engine and then there is the traffic jam."   

Babar Ahmed, deputy assistant engineer of Dhaka North Region-3 told The Business Standard that they are expecting the work to be completed by April.

Speaking on the dust problem, he said they are watering the road regularly to address the issue.

Asked if the city corporation would take any action against the company for failing to complete the work within the stipulated time, Abdullah Al Baki, regional executive officer of Dhaka North Zone-3, said, "We will look into the matter and take appropriate action."