The repair work of 20 major roads of Khulna City Corporation (KCC) are disrupted due to the on going countrywide blockade and hartals enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
Contractors said they usually hire various equipment and machinery needed for the road repair work from the city corporation. But KCC has not been renting out its expensive machines fearing arson and vandalism.
Moreover, they are also not being able to bring the machines from other parts of the country. Hence they cannot but suspend the repair work and face huge loss due to delay.
According to the city corporation sources, renovation of 59 roads under KCC began under an infrastructure development project in 2014-2015 fiscal year. 20 roads were supposed to be repaired within January 2015 according to the plan.
However, the political violence that ensued from January 6 has stalled the work causing immense public sufferings.
The repair work of Shiekh Para main road and improvement of sewerage began in September, 2014. The 3-month work has not been completed even after five months.
Masud Parvez Babu, a businessman of the area, said all the digging and drilling work had left the road unusable. This has caused untold miseries for the residents and businesses of the area.
The Northkhal Bank road was dug up in June, 2014. The road was supposed to be paved within January but it is still lying in a tattered condition as the contractor is yet to get the required machinery from the KCC.
The other important roads which were supposed to be completed within January are BK Rai, Jabbar Sarani, Crescent School, Jute Mill main road and Daulatpur boundary road.
General Secretary Taslim Ahmed Pasha of Kallyan Samity and also a contractor for KCC said he could not get machines from KCC due to the blockade. He was also not able to bring bitumen and other necessary goods for repairing the road.
Md Nazmul Islam, acting chief engineer for KCC, said they were trying to devise strategies to make up for the lost time. “All the contractors are asked to finish their work within March. We are also trying to alleviate the sufferings of people as much as we can.”
