The area in question is Mohammadpur where right at the moment as many as 15 roads have been subjected to simultaneous excavation of small to large order. When it is difficult to step out of residential buildings on foot, the question of getting cars on the road is out of question. Development of the sewerage lines and fresh connection of water pipes to residents certainly make sense but undertaking the digging of trench-like channels and holes with the excavated earth and concrete left blocking walking space does not.
The street that connects the road from Shia Masjid to Residential Model School on the opposite side to the Mohammad Kendrya College gate stretching from Humayun Road in front of Krishi Market was subjected to such extensive excavation. For more than two months the spree of development works made a hell of life for residents living in the area. Their movement was severely restricted. It was challenging to bring home a sac of rice or bags full of kitchen-market goods.
More troubling was the night-time work schedule. Both noise and dust and burnt-out fossil fuel pollution reached intolerable at night. The stinging smell emitting from excavators known locally as vecu machine did make its presence felt in rooms far above the ground. At times the digging impact at dead of night felt like an earthquake. House owners had to wake up all night in order to ensure that the back hoe which is the real name of the excavator did not damage or cause fire by hitting the gas line. Even such caution could not avoid a fire that caused extensive damage to a grocery when the excavator inadvertently uprooted the Titas gas line.
Part of the Tajmahal Road, it was carpeted the night before the election day after layers of brick chips and sand were allowed to get set for weeks. Nothing to complain against this but the carpeting certainly leaves much to be desired. There is every chance that with the onset of monsoon when there would be heavy rains, the half-hearted makeshift carpeting will give in, exposing potholes.
There is no reason to think that the 15 roads and streets including Iqbal Road, Sher-E-Bangla Road and Sadeq Khan Road that are right now subjected to massive development surgery will meet a fate different from the Tajmahal Road. Notably all these roads had concrete cover done only six to seven years back. They had a life span of 40 to 50 years.
What is particularly galling is that the footpaths were in the best of condition with quality patterned ceramic tiles and yet those were demolished only to be replaced by substandard types. In both cases of road carpeting and footpath cover, the work has been below quality. In the process, money has gone down the drain. First, by way of excavation of solid concrete cover and then application of below standard carpeting. The footpaths have suffered the same ignominy.
This is, however, not the only example of 'eyewash development' or engineering faux pas. A few months back, the felling of trees for redesigning the median of the road leading from Mohammadpur Bus Stand up to Border Guard Bangladesh headquarters at Jhikatola has exposed what really goes in the name of development at times. There are instances of construction of bridges right in the middle of paddy fields with no road on either side. Then the engineering mismatch with the construction of bridges of lower heights--- including the one at Gabtoli and the railway bridge at Tongi --- on rivers and water bodies around the capital exposes either motivated flaws or naivety. The waterways could not be used for even smaller vessels because of lower heights of those bridges. Without constructing bridges of proper height, the channels cannot be made operational.
This is exactly how infrastructure built has to be demolished, reconstructed, redesigned and replaced. All in the name of development! This process involves overlapping at some place whereas crying needs elsewhere for far less costly but highly important ones for public convenience go unheeded. Another customary habit is rescheduling of time for completion of projects, allowing escalation of costs to a staggering amount. If feasibility of a project is determined on the basis of all aspects---open or hidden, it has to be completed on time. There are instances where a few projects the army got the work order for were completed before schedule. The culture of sham development and wastage of money must come to an end.
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com