Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Public woes compounded

Wasa embarks on rainy season as work goes on at snail’s pace
The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) has embarked on digging up 26 kilometre of road of the capital to lay utility pipelines but the work is progressing at a pathetic pace catching up the rainy season.
In addition to the misery, the Dhaka north and south city corporations (DCC) remain indifferent as usual about taking care of the roads left in a shambles by different utility agencies after development works.
For instance, the Wasa dug many roads in Uttara (sector-1, 4 and 5) last year to upgrade storm water drainage system which the DCC took a year to repair.
In March this year, the Wasa embarked on digging roads in Uttara and Gulshan which had been dug by another utility agency in February.
Thus, digging roads of the capital by different utility agencies one after another, instead of in a coordinated manner, is making public suffering perennial.
GULSHAN
Recently, the Wasa has started digging four kilometres of road in Gulshan to lay storm sewer lines with a view to diverting polluted water from falling in Gulshan-Baridhara Lake under a Tk 50-crore project.
Three kilometres of it stretches from United Hospital to Niketan Lake while the rest one kilometre is from Gulshan-1 roundabout to the national shooting federation.
The entire development work in Gulshan that began late in February would take until June to complete, said Akhtaruzzaman, executive engineer of Wasa.
Last month, Wasa dug up roads No-86, 90, 92, 94, 96, 104, 113, 118, 123 and 126 of the area all at a time. This significantly narrowed down the motorways with trenches on one side and large concrete pipe kept on the other side occupying most to the road span.
So, vehicles on the roads are forced to run through one narrow lane on each side triggering huge traffic congestion in the area.
Asked about the work strategy, Akhtaruzzaman said the concrete pipes were so heavy that it would have been difficult for them to keep the pipes elsewhere and bring them to the site when needed.
Sitara Chowdhury, a resident of road-126, said the Wasa did not issue them any notice prior to digging up the road in front of their house.
“My husband could not go to the office by car for a week due to the road digging. I wonder what would have happened if we needed to move out in an emergency or had anyone fallen sick,” she said.
During the development work, the Wasa had to put around 100 large concrete pipes on one side of the Gulshan Avenue for a month as they did not have the permission to dig the road from the traffic department.
MIRPUR
The Wasa dug up a large portion of Darussalam Road, stretching from Mirpur to Technical intersection, nearly four months ago to lay storm sewer line but the work remaines suspended due to the ongoing water pipeline work along Mirpur road.
Rukhsana Begum, a roadside vendor on Darussalam Road, said traffic movement there came to a complete standstill every day during the peak hours.
Hamidur Rahman, a commuter from Mirpur, said traffic gridlock due to the narrowed down road had been causing unbearable suffering to the commuters for the last several months.
During rush hours it took hours to pass through Mirpur-1 to Asad Gate, as the road had been dug in the middle for the work underground, he added.
Another project for second Sayedabad water treatment plant and installation of a 10-km supply pipelines has also added to the suffering.
Under the Tk 1,400-crore project funded by DANIDA and the government, the Wasa is laying a 5.5-km pipeline digging the Mirpur Road between Technical intersection and Panthapath.
Two-kilometre water pipeline from Tibbot in Tejgaon Industrial Area to the national shooting federation and a 2.5-km from Rampura to Malibagh are also under the project.
Site officials said it would take until June to finish the digging work.
Shahid Uddin, superintendent engineer of Wasa Drainage Circle, said a 12-kilometre work for laying storm-water pipeline started in Uttara, Mirpur, Dhanmondi, Mouchak, Shahjahanpur, Moghbazar more than two months ago and the job was to be completed by mid May.
DHANMONDI AND UTTARA
The Wasa dug 3.5-km stretch of Dhanmondi roads No-5, 6, 7 and 9 in February to lay storm sewer lines. The work completed in a month but the DCC is yet to repair the roads.
The same length of road has been dug in Uttara and it will continue until mid-May.
Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Wasa, said they had to start digging the roads at this time of the year as DCC (north and south) permits it from November to May.
DCC officials admitting the public suffering said different agencies get project approval at different times and therefore coordination in the road-digging work was not possible.
It is true that DCC in some cases delayed in repairing the dug-up roads, they said, but for Gulshan they had started the repair work immediately after the Wasa finished its work.
Prof Shamsul Hoque of civil engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology said since neighbourhoods like Gulshan had been developed in an unplanned manner — without building proper utility networks — public suffering is inevitable.
The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) is responsible for the unplanned development, even in the cases of Uttara and Purbachal schemes, where underground utility network was not ensured before developing the housing plots, said experts.

Courtesy of The Daily Star

Related News

Low teacher pay harms education

Shahin Akhter Teachers continue to go underpaid compared with their fellows in other Asian countries which squarely affects the quality of education, the white paper on the state of the Bangladesh economy says. The average salary of a primary school teacher is about 27 per cent less than the average monthly per capita income and ... Read more

Khaleda Zia visits US embassy to complete visa process

News Desk : dhakamirror.com BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia went to the US Embassy in the capital on Wednesday afternoon to give her fingerprints for completing her visa application process. Upon her arrival at the embassy, its officials, including acting ambassador welcomed the BNP chairperson. Khaleda was accompanied by her personal physicians, BNP Standing Committee member ... Read more

Sajek, Khagrachari now open to visitors after being closed for over a month

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The tourism restriction imposed in Sajek valley of Rangamati and Khagrachhari for over a month was lifted today allowing visitors after 45 days. Rangamati Deputy Commissioner Mosharraf Hossain Khan announced the lifting of travel bans at the popular Sajek Union in Baghaichhari Upazila. Similarly, the Khagrachari Deputy Commissioner has also lifted ... Read more

Tourist access to suspend in St Martins in February

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The government has decided that tourist access to Saint Martin’s Island will be suspended in February to protect the island’s fragile ecology and ensure environmental preservation. Tourists will be allowed to visit the island from November to January, with overnight stays prohibited in November. In December and January, tourists can stay ... Read more

Public univs to accommodate 37pc GPA 5 achievers

Shahin Akhter Around 63 per cent of examinees securing a Grade Point Average of 5 in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations will not be able to get admitted to the public universities across the country due to lack of seats. Though the private universities in the country have sufficient seats to accommodate ... Read more

297 killed by lightning in eight months

News Desk : dhakamirror.com At least 297 people have been killed and 73 injured in incidents of lightning strikes across the country between February and September this year, according to Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awareness Forum (SSTAF). In the eight months, lightning strikes killed 152 people while they were doing agricultural works, SSTAF said ... Read more

Flood death toll climbs to 59, over 5.4 million affected

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Fifty-nine people, including 41 men, six women and 12 children, died in the devastating flood as deaths of five more people were reported on Saturday. So far, 14 deaths have been reported in Cumilla, six in Chattogram, 23 in Feni, nine in Noakhali, three in Cox’s Bazar, and one each in ... Read more

Flood death toll reaches 13, 4.5m affected in 11 districts

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Around 13 people have been killed and 4.5 million affected by floods in 11 districts of Bangladesh, the disaster management and relief ministry said Friday, reports AFP. Thousands of people awaiting emergency rescue remained beyond electricity and mobile network coverage as a flash flood unleashed by heavy rains and an onrush ... Read more

Bangladesh ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia freed

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has been officially released. Former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was released on Tuesday, a day after Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as PM and fleeing the country amid an unprecedented student-led mass uprising against her authoritarian regime. The decision was revealed ... Read more

Eid-ul-Azha on June 17

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The holy Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Bangladesh on June 17 (Monday) as the crescent moon of the Zilhaj month was sighted in Bangladesh’s sky on Friday evening (7 June). The National Moon Sighting Committee came up with the decision after reviewing information about the sighting of the moon at a ... Read more

Cyclone Remal: 40 dead animals found, 17 rescued hurt in Sundarbans

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The forest department officials on Tuesday said that so far they found 39 dead deer and a pig in the Sundarbans after the severe cyclone Remal that hit the forest on Sunday. Primarily they have estimated infrastructural damage of Tk 6.27 crore in the forest while the total damage, including animals ... Read more

Cyclone Remal claims at least 14 lives, affects nearly 37.58 lakh people in 19 districts

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Following its devastating impact into Bangladesh on Sunday night, Cyclone Remal has affected over 37.58 lakh people in 19 districts and taken at least 14 lives. While the cyclone has weakened into a deep depression, hundreds of villages in the southern parts of the country remain submerged. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department ... Read more

Alert issued as Cyclone Remal develops

News Desk : dhakamirror.com A weather alert has been issued by the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) as a low-pressure system in the southwest and west central Bay of Bengal gains strength, potentially developing into Cyclone Remal by Saturday. The system, currently moving northeastward, is expected to transform into a depression by early Friday. By Saturday, ... Read more

Cyclone ‘Remal’ likely to hit Bangladesh coasts on 26 May: Meteorologist

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Cyclone Remal is likely to make landfall between 6:00am and 12:00pm on 26 May in Bangladesh, affecting coastal areas from the Barguna in Barishal Division to Cox’s Bazar in the Chattogram Division, a meteorologist said today (21 May). The front of the cyclone may begin to enter coastal areas after 6:00am, ... Read more

5 consecutive days holiday for Eid-ul-Adha

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Government employees are scheduled to get five consecutive days off on Eid-ul-Azha. This includes two days of weekly holidays (Friday and Saturday) followed by another three days for Eid, according to government holiday list. Eid-ul-Azha is likely to be celebrated on June 17 this year.

Heavy rains, storms forecast for entire week

Schools open today after heatwave closures News Desk : dhakamirror.com The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) forecasts heavy rainfall with thunderstorms across the country this week, starting on Tuesday and lasting through Saturday. As per the analysis of mathematical model of rainfall index, Bangladesh is likely to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall with thunderstorms starting ... Read more

Waiting for the rain

Tawsia Tajmim As the sun blazes relentlessly, desperate craving rises for rain, for nothing soothes Mother Nature quite like its cool embrace. After a brutal month-long heatwave, residents of Chattogram, Sylhet, and Dhaka finally caught a break with some rain on 2 May. However, the downpour was not strong enough to completely wash away the ... Read more

Hajj registration extended till Jan 18

News Desk : dhakamirror.com The government, in a notice issued yesterday, extended the Hajj registration deadline for 2024 until January 18. It said aspiring Hajis would have to primarily deposit Tk 2.05 lakh, while the rest should be paid by February 29 for final registration. One has to pay Tk 5,78,840 under the general package, ... Read more

Dense fog disrupts communications across Bangladesh

News Desk : dhakamirror.com Cold and dense fog continued to disrupt life with road, air and waterways communication remaining suspended in the early hours of Tuesday as Bangladesh braces for this winter’s first cold wave likely to set in today. Authorities also confirmed until Tuesday the death of 14 people in cold-related diseases and road ... Read more

27,000 GPA 5 achievers not to get seat in public universities

Shahin Akhter Over 27,000 GPA 5 achievers in this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations cannot be admitted to the public universities due to fewer seats. A total of 92,595 examinees secured GPA 5 out of total 10,67,852 passed in the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations this year. But there are around 65,400 seats at the public ... Read more