The Moghbazar-Mouchak road in the capital has virturally turned impassable due to the ongoing construction of the flyover on the road.
The commuters have to face unbearable miseries travelling through the roads in Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Shantinagar Eskaton, Dilu Road, Siddeswari, FDC intersection, Shatrasta and Rampura due to ongoing construction works of the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover project.
Commuters of different vehicles have to wait for hours on the road.
Vehicles are often stuck in potholes in the dilapidated road.
Locals, commuters and pedestrians said the roads went out of order as the contractor and the authorities concerned for the under-construction flyover did not take necessary steps.
Anwar Hossain, a resident of Moghbazar, said: “Due to potholes in the roads, vehicles cannot move easily.”
“Paddled rickshaw and CNG-run auto-rickshaws get stuck up in the potholes and also topple down leaving the commuters injured,” he said.
“Not only rickshaws but also buses topple down, causing accidents,” he added.
Anwar also said it has become very difficult to come out of home as the roads have turned dilapidated.
Jahanara Begum, standing at the Moghbazar intersection, said: “I have been waiting for Skyline bus service for half an hour. But the bus failed to reach the station due to traffic jam, which is a daily hassle in the area.”
She said the road narrowed for mismanagement of the contactors of the flyover project.
“The contactors have put construction materials on the road making it very narrow and they have not taken steps to fill up the potholes in the rest parts of the road which are used for vehicular movements,” she said.
While visiting the Moghbazar-Mouchak road yesterday, it was found that a passenger bus of Sky Line toppled on a bus of Ajmeri Paribahan, while the wheels had become stuck into the potholes.
Glasses of both buses had broken down and many passengers were injured critically due to accident.
The Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover project is being implemented by the local government engineering department under the ministry of local government and rural development and cooperatives. The estimated cost of the four-lane flyover is around Tk 7.73 billion.
The Danish and Bangladesh joint venture firms M/S Simplex-Navana JV and Bangladesh-India joint venture firm, MCCC-4 ACL-ODC will complete the construction of the flyover. Toma Construction carries out construction works on sub-contract.
Sanjay Kumar, project manager of Toma Constructions told the Dhaka Tribune: “We continuously fill up the potholes. But it is only a temporary solution.” Sanjay attributed the delay to an unplanned and faulty installation of utility lines.
He, however, hoped the flyover construction will be completed by December, 2015.
