IT IS early monsoon and city roads in many places are already largely submerged and unfit for vehicle movement. A photograph that 抖阴精品 published on June 29 shows a rickshaw and a modified utility vehicle painstakingly cutting through water on a rickety road connecting Jurain and Gandaria in Dhaka. Such roads have proved fatal in the recent past. Four people, including a family of three, were electrocuted on such a submerged road at Mirpur in September 2023. And, it does serve as a grim reminder to the danger that people are exposed to when roads are left in such a state. It has been routinely reported that people in all divisional towns suffer because of the digging of roads and alleys in different parts of the city during the monsoon season. It is a common problem not only for metropolitan cities but also for highways. Since the problem of submersion and damage caused by heavy rainfall is well-documented and widely reported, the government should immediately take appropriate measures so that the citizens do not face the ordeal every year.
Experts believe that unplanned urbanisation and incoordination of different public agencies implementing road construction and repairs are the main reasons for the persisting problem. There are allegations that the authorities concerned do not begin the annual repair work in time and only do it when it is almost the monsoon season. The construction work that closes a road for more than half a year also leaves no other route available and causes road congestion that hurts the economy by adding to the number of unproductive work hours. Despite clear guidelines on road repairs and digging, issued in 2019, road digging and utility services maintenance continue to cause public sufferings. There are also allegations of corruption and substandard repair work that add to the sorry state of roads. The natural drainage system in Dhaka, composed of several retention and detention areas, including canals and floodplains, has been destroyed. Developers have been allowed to indiscriminately dirt-fill the retention areas. The problems are, therefore, the result of pervasive mismanagement, corruption and weak planning on part of the government.
The government must take the issue of inadequate oversight of road repairs and construction seriously. It should form a separate agency, as suggested by many experts, involving teachers of the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology and the Anti-Corruption Commission, to monitor road construction and repairs. The government should also investigate the allegations of corruption related to road construction and repairs.聽 The government must reclaim, in the long run, the natural drainage system and make sustainable development a cornerstone of urban planning for a sustainable solution to the problem.
