Moghbazar-Malibagh roads now a nightmare for commuters

Commuters face untold miseries travelling through the capital's key residential areas as the roads between Moghbazar and Malibagh and its adjacent areas have become almost unusable due to ongoing construction works of a flyover project.

The construction activities on the integrated Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover project are causing public sufferings in the form of severe traffic congestion, sound and air pollution.

Inhabitants of the areas said chaos on the roads has turned out to be a nightmare everyday as the contractor of the flyover project does not repair the damaged stretches of the road or facilitate any alternative route.

Office-goers and school-going children are the worst sufferers as the roads taking them to the workplaces and schools have been squeezed by the construction materials.

Vehicles wait in long queues for hours every day putting the capital's traffic managers in a difficult situation to handle growing pressure of traffic on the narrowed roads.

Vehicles are often seen stuck up in mud or potholes at Eskaton, Dilu Road, Moghbazar, Siddeswari, Malibagh, FDC crossing, Mouchak, Shantinagar and Rampura which trigger tailbacks forcing commuters to wait for hours.

"It has become very difficult to come out of our homes as the areas have turned muddy," Kabir Hossain, who lives in Boro Moghbazar said.

Shamima Islam, a housewife, said guardians of the school-going children at the locality face difficulties in taking or fetching their sons and daughters from schools through the jam-packed streets.

"My 10-year-old girl, who studies at Ispahani Girls' School and College, is now showing reluctance to go to school facing the obstacles," she said.

Kamrul Islam, a civil engineer living at Malibagh, said as per international practice, the contractor should repair the damaged stretches as quickly as possible or make alternative arrangements for movement of traffic.

"I don't know what has happened in the case of the under-construction flyover," he said, adding that piled-up mud washed into the road by rain makes it difficult for pedestrians to use.

Kabir Bhuiyan, a resident of Siddheswari area, said the constructors are using the school field in the locality and causing serious impediments to their daily chores. It should immediately be shifted from the residential-cum-commercial area, he said.

The people related to construction of the flyover said the construction work would be hampered severely if the field is not allowed to be used. There is no such ground in place in the neighbouring areas.

When contacted, project director of the flyover Nazmul Alam said vehicular movement would be easier and such sufferings will also be erased after the flyover construction is completed.

About alternative route, he said the area is too densely-populated to find space for such arrangements.

"We're trying hard to complete the flyover as early as possible. We've already completed 25 per cent of the construction activities," he said.

Seeking anonymity, another senior project official said construction work of the project slowed down since July last. This is because there are underground pipelines and cables installed nearly a decade ago by utility service-providers for people in and around the project areas.      

The project is very important for the capital's traffic management as the flyover is designed to ease gridlock in eight intersections-Satrasta, FDC, Moghbazar, Mouchak, Malibagh, Shantinagar, Rampura Chowdhurypara and Ramna thana where commuters have to spend hours together every day.

Once the flyover, which would contain a total of 15 ramps, is implemented, the movement of vehicles in Dhaka city from north to south and from south to north will be much easier, the project official said.

The Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover project is being implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives. The estimated cost of the four-lane flyover is around Tk 7.73 billion.