Are roads meant to dig?

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) is allowing service providing organisations to dig up 13,643 square meters of newly repaired road surface. One might recall the DCC had taken a holier than thou attitude vis-a-vis the utility organisations on the issue of cutting roads, but obviously it has failed to stand its ground. The degree of inconvenience to be caused to traffic movement can be measured by the size of digging activity in prospect. Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Co, Dhaka WASA, DESA and other service providers are to dig up several major roads.

We are dumbfounded by the total lack of planning, sense of perspective and vision pertaining to the so-called 'development' projects in the city. Why what has been repaired with expensive materials under as prestigious and comprehensive a project as Dhaka Urban Transport Project needs to be cut up and filled back again? Hasn't the line between maintenance activity and development work been strangely blurred in our context? Or is the confusion courted to mint money? Do we have to express the suspicion by putting a question? Whatever we put up, construct and reconstruct must last for a reasonable period of time, especially given our resource constraints. But ironically we are the most prodigal with our spending habits on the roads.

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According to the standard procedure, DCC was realising hefty caution money from the utility organisations for doing up roads that would be dug up. But that's hardly a guarantee for timely repair. The earth-work would leave ditches 'waiting for compaction' throughout the rainy season with predictable hardship to commuters.

The issue is as much lack of coordination as it is of planning and vision under any single authority. A unified city authority, if there was one, could even coordinate better with the development partners to ensure that money is disbursed in time for implementing plans.