Culvert collapses three years after construction

CHANDPUR, Aug 21: Nearly 30,000 people of 10 villages in Matlab south upazila have been experiencing untold sufferings as the culvert on a canal in Matlab Municipality collapsed only three years of its construction.
No vehicle can now ply the Bordiya-Shobhankordi Road, which used to see 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles earlier, said locals.
One of them, Rahim Uddin, said, "Thousands of people from Bordia, Uddomdi, Mobarakdi, Shobhankordi, Nabakolosh, Shilmondi and other areas used to use the road on their way to Matlab, Hajiganj and Chandpur."
"Now they have to walk four to eight kilometres due to the absence of the culvert," he added.
The culvert, built at a cost of Tk 1.67 million (16.75 lakh) on Baburhat-Matlab canal, collapsed due to high tide, according to the authorities concerned.
Locals, however, alleged that the 20-foot-long and 12-foot-wide culvert was washed away as it was built with poor construction materials.
Mohammad Shah Alam, a local school teacher, said, "Due to low quality work, the culvert has collapsed only a few years of its construction."
But the authorities denied the allegation.
Project implementation officer Rabiul Islam said, "The culvert's supporting pillars were affected due to strong current accompanied by heavy rain."
"The construction work of the culvert was done properly following rules and tender's terms and condition," he added.
He also said, "The repair work of the culvert will be done afresh soon during the dry season."
Local ward councillor Wajuddin Prodhan said, "Upazila project implementation office in collaboration with a contractor constructed the important culvert. It was funded by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief during 2017-18 fiscal."
However, the culvert opened to traffic on May 10, 2019.

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