Project worth 1.25 crores collapses within a month

Not even a month has passed since the completion of the construction work. In the meantime, the fence built as part of the Manikganj Municipality’s road development project has collapsed. The collapse, which occurred during three consecutive days of rain, has raised serious questions about the design, construction quality and supervision of the project worth about 1.25 crores. What is more surprising is that the representative of the contracting company has claimed that there were flaws in the design of the project from the beginning.
According to the engineering department of the municipality, road renovation work is underway from Girls School Road in Ward No. 6 of the municipality to CRP and 445 meters of drain from BRAC office to the post office on the same road. The estimated cost of the project is about 1.25 crores. Of this, a fence was built to protect the banks of the traditional reserved pond of Manikganj in the section from BRAC office to the post office. Although the work was completed last month, a large part of the fence, including the soil on the south side of the pond, collapsed due to recent heavy rains. Cracks and signs of danger were also seen on the other side.
From above, it can be seen that the fence has collapsed due to the soil shifting in the collapsed area. This has also raised concerns about the stability of the road. According to locals, it is not normal for any new construction to collapse in such a short time. This has raised questions about the quality of construction work and the quality of project implementation. The project is being implemented jointly by two contracting companies, MA Engineering and Mostafizur Rahman.
Mohammad Arif Hossain, a representative of the contracting company, said that 10-foot long piles have been installed as per the design. But at least 20-foot piles were required according to the nature of the soil at this location. We believe that this incident occurred due to design limitations. Abdul Baten, assistant engineer of Manikganj Municipality, told Jugantor in this regard that the fence collapsed due to heavy rain. If any errors are found in the investigation, necessary action will be taken.
However, engineering experts say that if the correct design, installation of piles at sufficient depth and quality construction are ensured, the new fence should not collapse in a few days of rain. Locals have demanded the formation of an impartial technical investigation committee to determine responsibility for this incident and examine every step of the design, construction standards, and supervision.