Moulvibazar correspondent:
There have been allegations of widespread irregularities in the RCC pouring work on the internal road of the Kulaura Upazila Health Complex in Moulvibazar. There is negligence on the part of the hospital authorities and officials of the Department of Health Engineering in supervising the road work.
The locals have also complained. The contractor’s people are trying to complete the work on this road of public importance responsibly. Seeing this type of work, there is extreme anger among the patients who come to the hospital for services and the local people.
They complained to the media that the work was not going well. There are allegations that the contractor has been committing irregularities in this work from the beginning. Although the welding density of the work was supposed to be higher according to the schedule,
It is being reduced. There is a mandatory requirement to provide one bag of cement, 4 bags (2 bags of fine sand and 2 bags of ordinary sand), and 8 bags of concrete in each mixture. But in different places on the hospital road, sand is added more and ten-one materials are mixed and poured.
Due to the rain, brick holes have already appeared in various places in the cast-in-place section. This will cause the road to collapse quickly once traffic starts in the future.
It is learnt that the service recipients face various difficulties during the rainy season on this road, which is of public importance.
Every year, the hospital road gets submerged in minor rains and floods. During this time, the movement of people and vehicles is stopped. To solve this problem, the Kulaura Business Association has initiated a project with the support of several social organizations.
For the past three years, a temporary floating bridge of about 250 feet was built for movement. Later, in view of the long-standing demand of the people of Kulaura, the Department of Health Engineering of the Ministry of Health, under Moulvibazar, will be constructed from the main gate of the hospital to the hospital in the fiscal year 2024-25.
Tenders were invited for road repair and renovation work at a cost of Tk 13.68 lakh up to the interior. A contracting company named Mercas Rupali Enterprises of Shibganj, Sylhet was given the responsibility of implementing this ongoing work.
On Thursday afternoon, when visiting the construction site on the hospital premises, it was seen that the contractor’s workers were working at will, using more sand and concrete. The engineer of the Directorate General of Health Services’ Moulvibazar office, who was in charge of supervising the work, inquired about the matter.
When Monirul Haque was informed, he claimed that the work was being done properly even though he found out about the irregularities in the construction work.
Local residents and drivers Mosharraf Hossain, Rustum Ahmed, Rubel Ahmed, Ahad Mia said,
The contractor has been working with very low quality materials since the beginning. They are pouring with less cement and more sand. As a result of using low quality brick kilns without cleaning them properly, even in light rain, many places are experiencing waterlogging.
Concrete cracks have appeared. There are even many irregularities in the tying of rods. Instead of tying the rods with wire, the rods are being laid out and cast. This threatens to reduce the durability of the casting. The hospital authorities and engineers are not doing the right thing.
Due to lack of supervision, poor quality work is being done. The people of Kulaura will have to bear the brunt of this.
The representative of the contracting company, chief engineer Rafiq Mia, said that the work is being done according to the rules. All the materials are being provided properly for the welding work.
Dr. Zakir Hossain, Health and Family Planning Officer of the Upazila Health Complex, said, “At the beginning of the work, the contractor wanted to do the work as he wanted. But with our intervention, in the presence of two engineers from the Directorate General of Health Services,
The work is currently being done. Appropriate action will be taken if there are any irregularities in the work.
Assistant Engineer of the Moulvibazar Health Engineering Department Md. Monirul Haque said that proper supervision is being done in the presence of two engineers round the clock.
The work is being done as per the schedule through the medium. People will complain. Sometimes, when the materials are mixed, there may be some errors due to the use of more or less materials by the mechanic.
