Road in Dhubri town named after Netaji lies in dilapidated condition

A Correspondent

DHUBRI: A 600-metre road runs through the middle of the main town in Dhubri. It is named after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as Netaji walked on this road in 1937. Earlier, the name of road was Haowal Road. But now this famous road, due to alleged apathy of departments concerned, is in a dilapidated condition. The road gets water-logged in the rainy season and the pavements are broken. Heap of garbage are strewn all over the road.

Neither the MP and local MLA nor the Dhubri Municipal Board and PWD (Road) ever paid any attention to this road. PWD (Road) officials said, “Yes, it is our road but we do not have the fund to construct the road. We have sent the plan and estimate to the State Government but fund has not been sanctioned yet.”

“This is what we have been listening to from several Executive Engineers of PWD (Road) who were transferred. The new Executive Engineer (in-charge) who recently joined does not even pick up calls and most of the time remains out of station,” residents alleged.

“Water-logging in the road hits shopkeepers hard, forcing them to close down their shops on the Netaji Subhas Road as water spills over to their shops even after a moderate downpour,” said shopkeeper Kasem Ali and other shopkeepers as well. Nearly half-a-km road from DEEO and DI office point to Zakir Hussain Road is in the most dilapidated condition. Drains remain clogged with broken culverts and pavements.

Residents of the Netaji Subhas Road had protested against constructing the road with concrete block as the condition of block road constructed few years ago was not good. So they demanded it to be constructed as lateral road with load-bearing drain cover.

But now there is tug of war between Dhubri Municipal Board (DMB) and PWD (Road) as to who will construct the road? This Netaji Subhas Road comes under PWD (Road) but it has not received any fund against the plan and estimate submitted last year, while DMB has the fund but no jurisdiction to construct the road.

When contacted, chairperson of DMB, Pushpo Malo said that this road came under PWD (Road) so the DMB could not do any construction or repair work. But the road crosses wards 2,4,5, 6 and 7, so why is Dhubri Municipal Board escaping from construing the road and pavements, local people said. Since the road technically belongs to PWD (Road), can it be constructed by DMB? An engineer who had served as Executive Engineer in Dhubri PWD (Road) Division, said there was no problem at all if the civic body constructed it.

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