Md. Al Shahriar Jim, Rangpur Correspondent: The pace and quality of work in the ongoing regional highway construction project under the Roads and Highways (SAOJ) Rangpur Division have returned. After the army caught some negligence in the work last Wednesday, the work supervision officials have become restless.
At 11 am on Saturday, road construction work was seen going on vigorously in the Hazir Hat City intersection area of the Rangpur-Saidpur road. Before laying the bitumen on the road, the dust and sand on the road are being cleaned very well with a machine. Then, by sprinkling bitumen, bitumen and stones are mixed on the road and stones are being laid on the road using a stone spreader machine. A person is checking the quality of the work there. It was learned that his name is Mohsin Majumdar, he is the laboratory assistant research officer of the Rangpur Roads and Townships Department. The work is being supervised by Rangpur Roads and Highways (SOH) Sub-Divisional Engineer Md. Kalam Pasha. Assistant Research Officer Mohsin Majumder said, ‘Last Wednesday, an army patrol team came to observe the road and found irregularities in their work. To prevent such irregularities from happening again, we are standing on the spot and inspecting the quality of the work.’ According to sources from the Rangpur Roads and Highways Department, ‘The stone laying of a total of 17,600 meters of the road from Rangpur Hasna Bazar to Paglapir, from Saleyasar Bazar to Baratir Bridge, from Taraganj Health Complex to Taraganj Bridge, from Taraganj Bazar to Chikli Bazar and the widening of the road from Rangpur Medical Intersection to Hasna Bazar is estimated at Tk 29 crore 89 lakh. The contractor from Rajshahi got the work for Tk 26 crore 89 lakh. The work started on February 2 and is scheduled to be completed on August 2.
According to the rules, 1.2 kg of bitumen and 23 kg of stone should be laid per square meter while laying stones on the road. But the contractor laid 18 kg of stone instead of 23 kg of stone, an irregularity that was caught by an army team last Wednesday.
On Saturday, Roads and Highways (SOW) Rangpur Sub-Divisional Engineer Md. Kalam Pasha told this reporter, ‘We have been monitoring the work all the time. Even though the contractor did the work well from the beginning, suddenly he did some irregularities in the work. It was caught by the army. We are working hard to ensure that this does not happen again. Currently, more stones are being laid instead of 23 kg of stone per square foot.’
However, the contractor of the work, Harun Or Rashid, could not be found on the spot. A young man named Shahinur Rahman is supervising the work. He told this reporter, ‘Brother, we are not doing the work badly. While laying stones on the road with the help of a stone spreader machine, a little more or less fell. We are being very careful so that no more falls fall.’
Executive Engineer of Roads and Highways (SOW) Rangpur Md. Moniruzzaman said, ‘There is no room for irregularities in the work. After the army caught some irregularities, we became more careful. We have kept our people there. A research officer has also been kept there to check the quality of the work. Overall, the work is going on at a very fast pace. There is no exemption if any irregularities are found in the work.’
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