Sections of the Rangpur-Dinajpur Highway repaired only days ago are being repaired again after the newly laid cement blocks crumbled, bitumen peeled off and potholes reappeared, triggering anger among local residents and drivers.
The affected sections were hastily repaired ahead of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to Rangpur on October 20. But the repairs did not last even a week in some places, prompting the Roads and Highways Department to undertake repair work on the same sections again.
The repeated repairs have raised questions about the quality of the work, supervision and the use of public money.
Local residents and drivers, who earlier expressed doubts about the durability of the rushed repairs, said the condition of the road has proved their concerns right within days.
The Roads and Highways Department, however, blamed the deterioration on overloaded vehicles and the poor foundation of the road.
The problem was visible along at least two kilometres of the roughly 10-kilometre stretch from Paglapir to Medical Mor on the highway.
More than 100 damaged sections of the highway were repaired ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit. Workers removed old brick pavements from the damaged sections, installed new cement blocks and applied bitumen over them.
During a visit to the area on Saturday, repair work was found underway again at several of the same sections. Seeing the repaired portions being repaired again within such a short time, local residents and drivers expressed their frustration.
Ershad Uddin, a resident of CO Bazar area, alleged that the road was not being repaired properly.
“Roads are deliberately not repaired properly. Contractors and officials make money when the road is repaired. That is why the work is done in such a way that it gets damaged quickly,” he said.
Saju Islam, a businessman from Kellaband area, said the brick pavement of the affected section was removed and cement blocks were installed only about a week earlier.
“The cement blocks have crumbled because of the poor quality of the work. Now they are repairing the same section again. But the work being done now will also be damaged,” he said.
According to the Roads and Highways Department, Rajshahi-based Don Enterprise was awarded a Tk 26.89 crore contract in the 2024-25 fiscal year for repairing a 17-kilometre section of the Rangpur-Saidpur Highway.
A 10-kilometre section of the highway was repaired until, though complaints were raised about the quality of the work.
Anarul Islam, a worker involved in the roadwork, said they simply followed instructions from engineers. “Engineers give us instructions and we carry them out. If public money is wasted, the government will bear the loss, but ordinary people are the ones who suffer,” he said.
Another worker, Abdul Hadi, said the road was repaired hastily ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.
“We worked on October 17, 18 and 19 because the Prime Minister was coming. Now the work is not holding up. We only do the work. The government and engineers should see whether the road becomes durable,” he said.
Mohammad Kamal Pasha, sub-divisional engineer of the Rangpur Roads and Highways Department, acknowledged that the repair work is ongoing.
“The work is ongoing. We are repairing it, but the bitumen keeps peeling off. We repair it repeatedly, but it comes off again. The bricks are breaking, so we are removing them and installing blocks, but those are also breaking,” he said, attributing the deterioration to overloaded vehicles.
“The foundation underneath this road is poor, which is why nothing is lasting. There is no alternative to rebuilding the road,” he said.