Savar roads: A sad story
A suburb, Savar, is roughly 22km north-west of Dhaka city. Because it is close to the capital, the area is highly industrialised and sees heavy traffic every day. Lorries, trucks, and other small vehicles loaded with goods to and from factories, especially those of readymade garments, frequent its roads. So, it is usual that these roads would suffer heavy damage and require routine repairs.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for Savar.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. A municipality, Savar's majority of roads are now in bad shape. Not only are they hampering regular traffic movement, but they are causing immense sufferings to the locals. There are potholes everywhere -- some so deep that they go down several feet into the ground. These slow vehicles down, hence creating traffic jams. Due to heavy rains this season, the situation got worse.
The road from Genda bus stand to Shadapur is one of the mostly used.
"Thousands of people including students and garment workers use this road every day. But it is not easy for the people to take the road," said Abdur Rouf, a resident of Genda, referring to its deplorable conditions.
The same situation exists on the roads from Ulail Boubazar to Karnapara, Radio Colony to Jamshing, Thana bus stand to Citylane, Savar Bazar bus stand to Chapain (Savar Model College road), Savar Bazar bus stand to Subahanbag, and Teabari to Badda Vatpara.
Most of these arterial roads branch off from the Dhaka-Aricha highway and connect localities in Savar municipality and surrounding areas.
Talking about the Genda-Shadapur road, driver of a battery-run auto rickshaw Kamal Uddin said, “We face immense trouble while driving on the road.”
“Sometimes, the three-wheeler gets stuck in a pothole while carrying passengers," he said, adding, "We are forced to use this road because three-wheelers are not allowed to move on the highway.”
In some cases, the condition is so bad that people not familiar with the area may have the impression that the roads were never paved. They would not see any brick soling (layer of bricks), let alone a bituminous surface.
On one hand, the bad shape of roads is making people suffer and killing their time. On the other hand, the drivers of the vehicles, most of whom belong to the lower income rung, have to a face an economic burden.
“We have to spend a large amount of money every month to repair our vehicles,” said Manan Mia, another three-wheeler driver.
It is not easy for local commuters as well.
Saiful Islam, a resident of Sobahanbag area, said moving from one place to another had become wearisome.
“Rickshaw-pullers demand extra fare from us,” he said. “Some time, they would not even take passengers because the roads are in a very bad shape.”
"We can't move comfortably," said Momina Akter, a garment factory worker. "The roads are dotted with potholes."
Momina said, “We have to spend extra time and extra money every day on the way to and from the factory.”
The roads are not even suitable for pedestrians.
"We have to wait for a long time to avail a vehicle because we can't go to school on foot as the roads are muddy,” said Rasel Ahamed, a fifth-grader.
It has been a long time since the roads were repaired, said Abdul Awal, a resident of Vatpara.
Asked about the situation, Savar municipality Mayor Abdul Goni said a Tk 16.35 crore project was under way. “Twelve new drains and seven roads will be constructed across Savar under this project.”
"Some of the works are going on, while the rest are being delayed due to the rain," he said.
“The municipality also announced a Tk 50-crore budget for constructing roads, Tk 45 crore for developing the drainage system, and Tk 1.7 crore for repairing roads in the 2016-17 fiscal year,” the mayor said.
“All of the roads will be developed one by one.”
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