Comilla people suffer as 15 km road is in bad shape

Muradnagar-Eliotganj Road in Comilla has been in an awful state for years, causing immense sufferings to commuters.

Thousands of people in Muradnagar, Debidwar and many other places use the road to reach Dhaka and several other places of the country, but the dilapidated condition of 15 kilometers of the road makes their journey extremely painful.

It is especially critical patients who are the worst sufferers due to the bad condition of the road.

Locals blamed low quality materials used in the repair work for the road’s present condition.  

Muradnagar upazila chairman Ahsanul Karim Sarkar Kishor said the carpeting of many parts of the road had worn off, resulting in several potholes.

Despite these conditions, people of the area are using the road as they have no alternative to reach the capital without losing time, he said.

The road is used as an alternative to the Comilla-Brahmanbaria Road.

The road needs immediate repair to ease people’s sufferings and he had already informed the authorities concerned about the matter, he added.

From Borarchar, Bakhrabad Bazar, to Muradnagar there are over a hundred potholes on the road. 

In particular, conditions are the worst in some of the places, including Nahal Chowmohuni and Borarchar area.

Anwar Hossain, a bus driver from Muradnagar, said although this road had long been in a bad shape, no permanent initiative was taken to improve its condition.

Vehicles very often got stuck on big potholes, he said.

Normally it used to take one hour for commuters to travel the 25-kilometer road stretch, but nowadays it takes longer than three hours. The dilapidated road conditions cause damage and numerous vehicles breaking down on this regional highway.

Two bailey bridges on the road have got damaged and are unfit for use.

Dr Mohammad Ahad Ullah, executive engineer of Roads and Highways Department in Comilla, said that renovation work on the 15-km area would begin soon.

According to a news report, as road transportation has gradually spiked over the years with the improvement in connectivity between, cities, towns and villages, conditions of dilapidated roads and highways and district-level roads across the country have been deteriorating rapidly due to monsoon rain and several other reasons. 

The sorry state of road conditions poses risks and inconveniences for travelers as neither local nor foreign investors may evince interest in investing in the country, notes a survey report.

The country’s 3,591 kilometre roads and highways are in bad shape, dotted with big holes, says a highway development and maintenance (HDM) study.

HDM, a wing of the roads and highways department responsible for providing information on road maintenance and development planning, in its study says the dilapidated roads and highways are in immediate need of repair.

HDM prepares reports on the conditions of roads and highways every year. The survey in question was conducted in compliance with the International Roughness Index (IRI). The report for the year 2020-21 was released recently and published by the Maintenance and Rehabilitation Needs on its website.