Home ›› 29 Jun 2022 ›› Nation
Several cracks appeared on a 150-200ftlength on the newly constructed Natore-Naogaon regional highway which is yet to be inaugurated.
The locals blame the construction company for using faulty and substandard materials. However, the authorities say that the cause will be identified and action will be taken soon.
The crack developed on June 25 on a 150-200-foot stretch of the road, north of Shahagola railway station, in Atrai upazila of Naogaon district.
According to sources at the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) office in Naogaon, the former minister Alamgir Kabir of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works State laid the foundation stone in2001.But the construction stopped after a while due to various political complications.
Later in 2018, Israfil Alam, a late MPfrom Naogaon-6 (Atrai-Raninagar) constituency, laid the foundation stone for the construction of a regional road from Raninagar railway station to the border of Natore district through Atrai.
The construction works started again after that with an estimated budget of Tk 129 crore.
Construction of 5 bridges and 10culverts along the highway has already been completed. The process for asphalt pavement installation is also nearly completed.
According to RHD sources, 4 contractors worked on the project divided into 4 phases. RHD Naogaon is overseeing the construction of the Naogaon-Natore regional road.
Currently, a small part of the 29 km road in the Naogaon section adjacent to Raninagar railway station is yet to be paved.
The highway is to be inaugurated soon after the remaining work is completed. Even so, vehicles have started moving on that road. But the locals are worried about accidents as the crack appeared on parts of the road.
According to locals, the road stretches from Dhaka Road in Naogaon and passed along the railway lines of Raninagar and Atrai upazilas to the bypass road of Natore town.
Although it has not been officially inaugurated, people of various professions including local traders and businessmen are already travelling to Natore from Raninagar via Atrai, Naldanga and Basudebpur using different modes of transport.
About 150-200 feet of the highway north of Shahagola railway station suddenly gave way last Saturday afternoon causing a big crack and disrupting traffic. Locals claimed that it was caused due to the less than mediocre-standard work on the road.
Kamal Hossain, a resident of Atrai Bazar, said that once the construction work of this regional highway is completed, vehicles and passengers going to Dhaka from different districts including Dinajpur, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Joypurhat and Naogaon will be able to reach Dhaka easily via Natore.
The highway will lessen the journey to Dhaka by 1 hour. According to him, the entire road was built by filling the side of the deep canal with soil without proper arrangement to ensure that erosion will not occur. If the soil erodes from the bottom of the road, the whole road might break down and go into the canal.
He called upon the concerned authorities to take immediate action to avoid any major mishap.
RHD Naogaon’s Executive Engineer Sajedur Rahman Sajid said, “We visited the spot with higher authorities of the department. An investigation is underway and proper action will be taken soon.”
