For residents of Mirpur in the capital, being on roads is synonymous with sufferings as most of the roads remain in a dilapidated condition.
Heavy monsoon rains in the last couple of days have aggravated the condition of the roads where many potholes have appeared.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) took a range of projects to improve the roads and streets in all areas of Mirpur but to no avail.
People living in Rupnagar, Arambagh, Shialbari, Duaripara, Pallabi and Purabi say the roads have not been repaired for long, blaming the negligence of city corporation officials.
Nazibur Rahman, a resident of Rupnagar, bemoaned the poor road conditions in his locality, saying that city corporation officials had turned a blind eye to this nagging problem.
“We do not know if the roads will ever be repaired.”
He said Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority dug up most of the busy roads in Pallabi, Purabi and Rupnagar for laying water supply pipes a year ago, but the holes are yet to be filled.
The Dhaka Tribune correspondent yesterday noticed solid wastes on several roads beside Rupnagar Natunbazar, which compounded the woes of pedestrians.
The area is under Ward 7 of the DNCC and the ward councillor, Md Mobasher Chowdhury, said the roads were patched up a few months ago but downpours over the past few days had caused damage again.
He said he would have talks with city corporation officials to begin repairing the roads from Shialbari to Rupnagar.
In June last year, the DNCC authorities admitted that they had failed to adequately respond to the urgency of road repairs because of two separate repair projects that were scheduled to be undertaken in October and December.
DNCC former chief engineer Brigadier General Md Abul Khair told the Dhaka Tribune at the time that all the roads that were in poor condition would be fixed under the two projects.
But yesterday’s visit revealed that most of the roads underwent no major repair.
Masud Hossain, assistant engineer of DNCC zone 2, said the city corporation had undertaken a development project to repair the roads in Mirpur, including the Shialbari-Duanipara Road. “The project is financed by the Kuwaiti government and will be initiated within several months,” he added.
Meanwhile, residents of Agargaon and Taltola have said many roads in their areas need to be repaired as well.
Moinul Islam, who lives in Taltola, said the road near Taltala Bazar was repaired a year ago but was now full of potholes again.
“It is very annoying to use the road especially in the rainy season because rains heighten sufferings of pedestrians.”
DNCC Additional Chief Engineer Syed Qudrat Ullah said development projects would be undertaken in the new fiscal year for fixing all the dilapidated roads in areas under the city corporation’s jurisdiction.