FACING the arrival of monsoon two Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) authorities have permitted different utility service providers to dig up road surface without taking into account that it will cause heavy traffic congestion and immense suffering to city dwellers. Utility providers like Dhaka Water Supply & Sewerage Authority (DWASA), have already started road digging in busiest city areas. The unplanned road digging during the rainy season, apart from intensifying the already crippling traffic jams is creating miseries to residents. Despite regular media reports on civic problems that such digging creates and suggestions from civil society activists and local public leaders, these utility providers have started moving their untimely digging and fixing of underground pipelines without coordination among themselves and care to difficulties they are creating to public life.
We don’t know why these people did not start the digging in dry season instead of waiting for monsoon. We know that the budgetary fund was available from July last year and the planning of the work if were not delayed intentionally up to monsoon; they could be accomplished in wintertime. There is a perception all over that the city corporation officials and other utility providers wait for the rainy season because digging, setting up new pipeline or repair old ones require more cost in rainy season and it makes more room for misappropriation of public fund. Similarly, carpeting of dug roads also claim more cost while much of the work get washed or damaged in rainwater to be repaired again next year. There is no secret that vested quarters are grabbing the public money this way and it is taking place almost every year.
The New Nation on Wednesday carried a photo story of such digging in road surface in the city’s Karwan Bazar area causing big traffic congestion over the area. Workers are piling up mud on the road narrowing the space for walkers and transport vehicles got stuck with long queue. Besides, the mud stretches across the roads made it sleepy. Moreover, construction of Moghbazar-Mowchak flyover is not coming to an end when construction materials on the road, holes on road surface and water logging have turned the area into a death trap.
Such work during the rainy season is highly dismaying particularly when the utility providers have no coordination with one another. As a result when one finishes, another starts digging road surface causing more suffering to people and wasting more public resources. We have repeatedly taken the issue to the management of those agencies and the higher authorities of the government. But the start of digging facing the monsoon shows again that there is nobody to pay heed to people’s concern. In our view the government must listen to public agonies while mobilizing such work.
We don’t know why these people did not start the digging in dry season instead of waiting for monsoon. We know that the budgetary fund was available from July last year and the planning of the work if were not delayed intentionally up to monsoon; they could be accomplished in wintertime. There is a perception all over that the city corporation officials and other utility providers wait for the rainy season because digging, setting up new pipeline or repair old ones require more cost in rainy season and it makes more room for misappropriation of public fund. Similarly, carpeting of dug roads also claim more cost while much of the work get washed or damaged in rainwater to be repaired again next year. There is no secret that vested quarters are grabbing the public money this way and it is taking place almost every year.
The New Nation on Wednesday carried a photo story of such digging in road surface in the city’s Karwan Bazar area causing big traffic congestion over the area. Workers are piling up mud on the road narrowing the space for walkers and transport vehicles got stuck with long queue. Besides, the mud stretches across the roads made it sleepy. Moreover, construction of Moghbazar-Mowchak flyover is not coming to an end when construction materials on the road, holes on road surface and water logging have turned the area into a death trap.
Such work during the rainy season is highly dismaying particularly when the utility providers have no coordination with one another. As a result when one finishes, another starts digging road surface causing more suffering to people and wasting more public resources. We have repeatedly taken the issue to the management of those agencies and the higher authorities of the government. But the start of digging facing the monsoon shows again that there is nobody to pay heed to people’s concern. In our view the government must listen to public agonies while mobilizing such work.
