Cracks spread across 250-metre Sonargaon road, raising safety concerns

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A roughly 250-metre section of the Singlab-Pakunda Road in Sonargaon, Narayanganj, has developed extensive cracks, creating concerns about the safety of motorists and pedestrians.

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The damage was noticed by locals on Saturday morning along the Dhaka Bypass Asian Highway. Cracks have appeared both across and along different parts of the road, while sections of asphalt have broken away and exposed the layers beneath.

Temporary repairs using sand and brick chips were carried out by Sunday. However, locals and drivers said the patchwork has done little to address the dangers posed by the damaged roadway.

Residents have attributed the deterioration to the lack of guide walls on both sides of the road. They believe soil pressure has caused the eastern side to sink and warned that continued rainfall and heavy traffic could make the cracks worse, potentially causing sections of the road to collapse, particularly under the weight of heavy vehicles.

Amir Hossain, a resident of Pakunda village, said construction of the road remains incomplete and called for an investigation into whether irregularities or corruption played a role in its current condition.

Project Director Syed Aslam Ali, however, rejected the locals’ assessment. He said two to three days of continuous rainfall had softened the soil on the Dhaka side, after which the movement of heavy vehicles caused the weakened soil to shift and the road to sink.

According to the project director, the Dhaka Bypass Expressway Development Company has arranged a diversion road to keep traffic moving during the emergency. The affected sections will be drilled and reconstructed after the displaced soil is addressed, he added.

The 48-kilometre road is currently being upgraded to four lanes under the Dhaka Bypass Asian Highway project, supervised by the Roads and Highways Department. The project has an estimated cost of more than Tk 35 billion.

Although the work was initially scheduled for completion in 2020, the deadline has been extended several times.