North Bashabo suffering due to incomplete pipeline
Sabrina Karim Murshed
Residents of north Bashabo are suffering as the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has left the construction of a drainage pipe of Khilgaon flyover incomplete.Water pipes designed to drain out rainwater accumulated on the flyover had been constructed under the main road on the eastern side of Khilgaon rail crossing. It stretches from Khilgaon fruit market in the north to central Bashabo in the South. However, an under construction channel in the middle through north Bashabo, which will have the water flowing into the marsh behind the Jhilpar Mosque, has been left incomplete. Residents of north Bashabo said the area has become almost unlivable due to the incomplete pipeline. "We are confronting difficulties in commuting as huge ditches exist on the road," said Saiful Islam, a local resident. The ditches prevent vehicles from entering the main road. "I have no other way but to keep my car in a garage in Shahjahanpur because of this dug up road," said another resident. Locals said the construction work of the 500-meter long pipeline had remained stopped for the last three months. Apart from creating unbearable communication problems, it is also contributing to the deteriorating law and order situation in the area. "Drug addicts have taken refuge inside the massive concrete pipes on the road and even inside the ones that have been fixed. They often come out and mug people who pass by," said another resident. Water remains stagnant in the ditches even when there is little or no rain. "Water easily drip into the pipes as most are cracked," said a local. The stagnant water has increased the mosquito menace in the area. North Bashabo Residents also claimed that while the pipeline has been placed on higher plains near its northern and southern ends, the ground in the middle is below that level. They feared that with the area being low, it could be flooded if water overflowed in the rainy season. When asked LGED officials said that they would finish the construction work as soon as possible. They said that as local people had proposed some changes in the alignment of the pipeline, the completion was taking a little longer. "Ultimately the pipeline will be connected to the drainage line of Wasa," said a high official of LGED.
| 
