These vehicles are in such bad shape that clay and sand often spill out and this causes great damage to the road.

In cities like Dhaka, the special 'Red Dhaka Clay' that spills out from trucks becomes hard and creates undulations and 'ruts', which reduce the worthiness of the roads. This way passengers lose comfort, drivers lose proper control over the vehicles and costs associated with traffic delay, accident and vehicle operation increase manifold . Furthermore, since the once smooth road surface becomes undulated, the wheel load and the sudden 'impact' load cause the disintegration (deterioration) of the road surface in an accelerated way. During rains the situation worsens. The clay turns into slurry and again reduces the skid resistance of the road surface increasing chance of accident. This way traffic delay as well as severe accidents occur quite frequently. The clay slurry also wipes out the valuable road marking, clogs the road side gutters and stretches the over burdened storm drainage system. If we consider the dust during the dry season or clay slurry thrown by the moving vehicles during the rainy season, the discomfort of pedestrians increases further. The same situation prevails in other major cities as well as townships. The national & regional highways as well as district roads suffer a great deal . As construction activities will increase in the coming days, need for transporting earth will also increase accordingly. Special dump trucks could be procured and supplied in great numbers. As an ad hoc measure, control should be there so that the earth on the truck is compacted and covered with tents and plastic sheets etc to prevent spilling out of earth.

Above all, we should start an awareness campaign among the stakeholders. A stitch in time saves nine! The authorities concerned should take immediate steps so that taxpayers' valuable contribution is not squandered due to the greed and folly of a few transport traders.