Patuakhali Municipality : Residents angry over substandard citizens' service, land being encroached
Manjur Morshed Tuhin, Patuakhali
Patuakhali Municipality is gradually losing its beauty due to lax supervision by the authorities.
Established in 1892, Patuakhali Municipality, which is currently a 1st class aesthetic municipality, has a population of about 120,000 people living in 26 square kilometers.
All development works , including official work, of the municipality, which is divided into 9 wards, is progressing at a slow pace. Ongoing construction work in some places is currently stopped. Revenues of various branches are not being collected on time. Land of the municipality is being encroached on in various places. Even though there are contracting institutions, most of the work related to the purchase and sale of supplies of the municipality is done by themselves.
It is learnt that after the fall of the Awami League government in August, along with the removal of 323 mayors from the local government department, Patuakhali Municipality Mayor Mohiuddin Ahmed was removed. After that, a municipal administrator nominated by the government took charge of Patuakhali Municipality and the municipal secretary played a leading role in all the work to assist the administrator. Since all the councilors were removed, citizens take their services through officers and employees working in various branches of the municipality. However, most citizens are not satisfied with the services of the municipality. Despite complaints filed with the municipality about various problems related to the municipality's land after the fall of the dictator, no resolution has been found even after months of numerous complaints. The municipal authorities have no headache in repairing the remaining roads that have been damaged for months. The drains in various parts of the city are full of garbage, which will create huge waterlogging in the upcoming monsoon season.
Although the road and drain work of various wards that started two years ago has been resumed, those works are currently stopped, but some of the works are progressing at a very slow pace, which is a show for the people. Unplanned permanent and temporary shops are being set up in several market areas including Sadar Road, New Market, Puran Bazar, Badghat, Chowrasta, causing traffic jams on the roads every day. This often leads to small and big accidents. People are suffering because of the private or government construction work by blocking various roads in the city with bricks and sand rods. When the contractors ran away after abandoning various construction works started during the fall government, the municipality is strategically getting them done through various political figures and influential people without publishing tender notices. Which may later raise questions about the quality of the work, including the personal benefits of dishonest officials of the municipality. New establishments are being built like frog umbrellas again on the vacant sites of establishments that were demolished during the fall government's period, which is known to have the direct support of the authorities. After the completion of work on various important roads and lanes in the city, several monsoon winds have created holes and potholes in various places on the roads, but there has been no initiative to repair them.
Nurul Islam Khan, a resident of Madhya Arambagh, said that for two years, they have been digging up soil in the name of constructing a drain and road on a 300-foot road in Madhya Arambagh, but no work is being done. During the rainy season, at least 50 families on both sides of this road live in inhuman conditions due to waterlogging. Moreover, there have been no street lights here for a long time. We have become helpless before the municipality.
During a visit to various places in the city, it was seen that temporary traders have occupied the sidewalks and parking lots on the south side of the road adjacent to the newly built municipal kitchen market. The situation is the same at Badghat, Chowrasta and Kalatala Bazar. Traffic jams persist in these places from morning to night. Most of the streets on the west side of the highway, including the two roads north and south of the small Chowrasta in Ward No. 9, and some streets in Arambagh and the bus stand area used to have street lights, but locals complain that most of the post lights have been useless for about six months. In addition, several residential areas south of Dam Ghat No. 2 in Ward No. 1, as well as several roads including the old Ferry Ghat Road, are in danger due to the lack of lights. Work is progressing slowly in several places including Arambagh, Sadar Road, and Chowrasta in the city in the name of road and drain construction. Clinical waste from hospitals, diagnostics, and clinics is collected by the municipality's cleaning staff but is not destroyed in a proper manner and thrown at the municipality's designated garbage dump.
Md. Alamgir Hossain, a local resident of the crossroads, said that the road from Chotro Chowrasta to Talukdar Bari via Munshibari is about a kilometer long. No lights have been lit for six months now. The train work has been left half-finished. I don't know if it will be done again. The mayor was supposed to fix the door of Munshibari, but the work could not be started because the government took a turn. Water is accumulating on the road after days of rain this year. We want the government to relieve the locals of this hardship.
Municipal Secretary MD. Masum Billah said, some closed works have been started after the previous government left. These are looked after by the engineering section. The previous contractor is there, but in his absence, someone else works on his behalf. We purchase and sell through him, but if you wish, you can purchase emergency goods up to a maximum of Tk 25,000.
Due to budget constraints, sometimes we buy some street lights, but they get damaged due to storms and floods. We have a waste collection agreement with the clinic hospital, there is a rule to burn waste in insulators, but we do not have insulators, so we dump them at the municipality's dumping station.
I personally remove people from the sidewalks, but later they come and occupy them again.
Municipal Administrator Md Jewel Rana said, an eviction drive will be launched very soon to remove the temporary shops. At the same time, illegal sidewalk and road occupiers in every area of the city will be evicted. After taking charge of the municipality, I have installed many new lights, and at different times we receive news of damaged lights, we work immediately.
To resolve the waterlogging, we are completing the unfinished drain works very quickly and regular drain cleaning work is underway by the cleaning staff. The approved tender processing works are ongoing, but some of the stopped works have been started. If any contracting organization is working outside the rules, legal action will be taken against it.
