Joypurhat Correspondent:
The Parbatipur-Shibsamudra road in Kalai upazila of Joypurhat has now become a permanent problem for the locals. This project, which was started with the promise of ‘development’, has now become a constant source of public suffering. The contractor responsible for digging up the brick-paved road for one and a half years has practically disappeared.
It has been reported that M/s Aman Trading, a contractor under the Local Government Engineering Department, started work on half a kilometer of the Parbatipur-Shibsamudra brick-paved road in September 2023. Due to the digging of the road, farmers and common people have to bear more than double the burden of carrying any goods. And when it rains, the road becomes completely unusable. Since the road is dug and no work is done, the road has now become a thorn in the side of the people who use the road. On one hand, there is dust in the dry season and on the other hand, there is mud during the rains, due to which public life has become miserable. The local people have blamed the contractor for absconding and the negligence and corruption of LGED officials. They have sought urgent intervention from the concerned authorities to complete the work of the road quickly.
According to sources from the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), a tender was invited for the development work of this road under the Rural Infrastructure Development Project for the implementation of LGED Joypurhat in the fiscal year 2023-24. A contract was signed with a contracting company called M/s Aman Trading for Tk 53 lakh 61 thousand 324 through the EGP tender. According to the contract, the work was supposed to be completed by August 20, 2024, but the work period was later extended again. But currently, the work is completely stopped.
When talking about the residents of Parbatipur village, Shohrab, Zaidur, Ujjwal, Shaharul, Yusuf, Chamchul, Chana, Afchar, they said that when our brick-paved road is dug for work, the soil in the middle of the road is kept on both sides, as a result, the road becomes like a drain. Due to this, people have to face difficulties in moving on the road due to the accumulation of rainwater. Some bricks lifted from the road are lying on both sides of the road. The remaining bricks have been kept in the Biala High School grounds for a long time.
They also said, “It would have been better if we had laid bricks on this road earlier. We are suffering endlessly due to the negligence and corruption of the contractors and LGED officials who are digging up the road in the name of development. Is there no one to see our suffering?”
Shahidul Islam of the same village said, “I travel 8-10 times a day for business. After the contractor lifted the bricks and dug the road, he left almost all the bricks somewhere else. The villagers, upset when the contractor ran away, have gone to the Kalai office many times. They have been turned away repeatedly with false promises of work.”
Jobeda Begum said, “My son used to run the family by riding an easy bike. When road work stops, he suffers from dust and sand during the dry season and endless hardship during the rainy season. He can no longer bring the easy bike home. That is why he has been forced to sell the easy bike. It is better not to develop development in the name of which people have to suffer for a long time.”
Farmer Azizul Haque said, “Why do you want to hear about our suffering, brother? We farmers work in agriculture all year round. It is difficult to express the suffering we experience during the rainy season in words. There is a paved road less than 200 feet from my house. Even then, we have to pay 100 taka to carry sacks on the paved road. Then you can understand the suffering we are in regarding the road. We have been suffering from this since last year.”
When asked about this, Azizul Haque, manager of the contracting company M/s Aman Trading, said, “There was an official problem with the road. The problem has been resolved in about a week. All the materials for the road are ready. If the working environment is good, we will start work either before Eid or immediately after Eid.”
Kalai Upazila Engineer Sirajul Islam said, the road has been delayed due to chainage problems. I have sent the file to Dhaka through a senior official to solve the problem. I hope it will be resolved very soon. And I am repeatedly pressuring the contractor for the work. The work will start very soon.
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