The Dhaka-Mymensingh highway still puts the moon to shame with huge craters despite the government hastily cobbling together a patchwork ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Huge potholes, stripped face of the road, digging and pile of bricks and sand for reconstruction have apparently made the would-be four-lane highway look like a one-and-half-lane highway.
However, the construction to turn the two-lane highway into a four-lane one is also hampering the traffic and causing massive congestions.
Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday, only a week before the Eid, claimed 80 percent repairs of the Bangladesh’s roads and highways were complete.
But the people are far from reassured that the roads will be motorable and question durability of the patchwork. They wonder if craters would reappear within days of the road being repaired.
The minister on July 11 had ordered the repairs of all roads and highways across Bangladesh within July 20.
After his self-imposed deadline expired, Quader on Monday said it will take another “one or two days” to fix the rest of the badly damaged roads and highways ahead of Eid.
But no marked improvements were seen during on-spot visits to several areas on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Monday.
Construction equipment were put right in the middle of the road when this correspondent entered the highway via Chandna intersection in Gazipur. That has narrowed the lanes on both sides of the road.
Similar scenes were to be seen on the same road at Salna and near Bhawal National Park.
Heavy rain in the recent days has worn out the highway and left it with numerous potholes which might become the perfect reason for an accident during the huge traffic rush ahead of and after the Eid.
It was a similar story at Teliparha, Rajendrapur and Hotaparha too. Waterlogged potholes in many places were making it more difficult for motorists to drive properly.
Workers, as part of the communication ministry’s drive, were mending the highway with sand and bricks as a ‘quick fix’.
That was barely enough for patchwork that might not survive the next spell of rain.
Source: Bd news24
