Newly constructed road in Tentulia to be paved in 15 days, locals angry over irregularities

The people of Buraburi Union in Tentulia, Panchagarh, were hoping for a paved road. The road development project worth about 1.5 crore taka was started with the dream that there would be no more dust, mud or potholes while traveling from the market to the union parishad. But the reality is much tougher. The new road was paved just 15 days after construction. The angry villagers asked - "What do we gain from this development?"

The incident happened on Thursday (May 22) afternoon. A brick-laden truck was reversing along the road in front of the mosque. Suddenly, a large part of the road was paved. The driver was shocked, and pedestrians rushed to the scene. It was then clear that the new road was hollow inside.

Local resident Md. Budharu said, “The truck was a little behind to unload the bricks. Suddenly, I saw that the road collapsed in front of the mosque and sat down. It had collapsed once before, and they worked in a hurry. This time too, they just left dirt and sand, it seems like they didn’t use a roller!”

Another resident, Amirul Islam, shared a similar experience. In his words, “The road was not built, it was just covered. Now, it is collapsing with a little weight. We do not accept this work.”

On the spot, it was seen that the part of the road that was dug up has holes all the way to the bottom. People around are saying in anger and arrogance, “This road will never last, if work is done like this.”

LGED has learned that this 1,565-meter-long road from Buraburi Bazar to Union Parishad is being built at a cost of about 18.4 million taka. A contracting company named ‘Zara Enterprise’ is implementing the work. However, it is also known that the project is being implemented not by a single person, but by a group of locals.

There are also questions about the materials used on the road. Locals complain that the stones, sand, dust—all were of low quality. And the carpeting was done without a prime coat, as if it was just for ‘show’.

LGED surveyor Joynal Abedin, who is in charge of supervision, however, denied all the allegations and said, “An overweight vehicle was on the road, that’s why it broke down. The work was done well. Whatever problems there were, the contractor will fix.”

However, locals complain that this surveyor is the ‘undeclared boss’ of all the projects. He supervises the project, and also sees the work of the site engineer. This has created a sense of responsibility in the name of supervision.

Immediately after the incident, Upazila Engineer Idris Ali Khan said, “We are going to the spot with UNO sir. Necessary measures will be taken.”

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Afroz Shaheen Khasru also said, "I have heard about the incident. We will go to the spot and investigate the entire matter and take action."