M Rezaul Islam, Naogaon

Complaints have been received about various irregularities in the road paving work in Manda, Naogaon, including the use of low-quality bricks and the use of fill soil instead of sand after installing a dredger machine.

The irregularities have been alleged in the construction of a one-kilometer road from Abiddha Para in Bishnupur Union of the upazila to Parsimulia. Ashraful Islam, the owner of M/s Zubair Electronics and Suppliers, has taken the responsibility of the construction at a cost of crores of taka.

When we went to the site, we saw that, ignoring the construction rules, the construction work was being carried out by illegally dredging soil and sand from the adjacent farmland and filling it with mud. The construction work of the subbase was being carried out without the necessary compaction and rolling. The locals said that if the road is built using low-quality sand-filled soil, the locals fear that the road will not be sustainable for a long time.

Locals said that at the beginning of road construction, according to engineering rules, after box cutting, compaction is completed, then filling with approved quality sand and rolling again, and then the subbase is constructed. But the contractor did not follow these steps and used illegal dredgers to extract muddy soil from the adjacent land and fill it with ice. Later, without rolling that layer properly, the subbase was started.

There are allegations that the prescribed standards were not maintained in the construction of the subbase. According to the construction policy, the ratio of sand and gravel in the subbase should be 50:50, but in reality, the locals claim that low-quality materials were used and the ratio was violated.

Locals have alleged that the durability of the road has been questioned even before its construction is complete due to the use of low-quality construction materials and violation of engineering norms. They have demanded a proper investigation into the irregularities in this important road built with government funds and action against those responsible. Several local residents said that the road work has been carried out without following the rules from the beginning. It has been filled with muddy soil and a subbase has been laid on it. If it is constructed in this way, there is a risk of damage to the road during the rainy season itself.

However, Ashraful Islam, owner of the contractor company, M/s Zubair Electronics and Suppliers, who is implementing the work, said, "Currently, good sand is not available anywhere, which is why we have installed a dredger machine and filled the road with sand. Both bricks and sand are being put to good use."

In this incident, Abdul Latif, Deputy Assistant Engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Manda Upazila branch, said, "Due to lack of sand, a dredger was installed and filled in. However, the sand and compression are all fine, there is no problem. Rollers were not used because they were not needed."

On the other hand, Abdul Quader, Engineer of Manda Upazila LGED , said, "I was not aware of the matter. I learned about it through you. There is no opportunity to do such work and action will be taken if necessary after investigating."