Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) allowed service providers and mobile phone operators to cut 74,000 square metres of road in the current fiscal year.

Bangla Link is now cutting 2,694 square metre footpath and 151 square metre road from Mohakhali Kaderia Tower to Banani rail crossing and 8,680 square metre road from Mirpur- 1 to Bhasantek, City Cell is cutting 3,838 square metre road from PacificTower to Kuril Biswa Road, Aktel 740 square metre from Mohakhali Brac Centre to Khwaza Tower, Grameen Phone 1,784 square metre from Mohakhali Khwaza Tower to Gulshan Shooting Club and 921 square metre from Mirpur Gol Chokkor to Grameen Bank building to get optical fibre connection.

Road cutting by service providers for various tasks is now going on in full swing at various points in Dhanmondi, Moghbazar and Gopibagh areas.

Sidewalks of the roads are also being cut near Karwan Bazar market, Dhanmondi Boys' School and in some other areas.

DCC sources say they must use their annual funds for various jobs by the end of June, and road cutting is part of the process.

But urban experts attributed this situation to lack of coordination among the DCC, Dhaka Wasa, Rajuk and other organisations concerned.

When contacted, Kazi Muhammad Sheesh, former chief engineer of Wasa, said "Road cuttings for improving the drainage system should have been done long before but the problem is we do not take any step until we get into serious trouble".

Earlier in 2003, the DCC had framed guidelines for road cutting and repair but to no effect.

The guidelines said there should be no road cutting during June to October. Besides, there must be signboards at the sites mentioning the timeframe of digging and repairing, and earth must be removed within 24 hours of digging so as not to block the way for vehicles and pedestrians, it said.

But in blatant violation of the guidelines, mounds of earth are found on roads at the digging sites, and apart from a few red flags, nothing is there giving information about the time limit for the task.

Despite the establishment of a One Stop Cell to facilitate road cutting by utility service providers and timely repair of those, there has been no improvement in the situation. People of affected areas allege unplanned cutting and delayed repair.

A resident of Green Road area said, "They (service providers) cut roads throughout the year for improving various facilities but we find no such improvement."

Urban expert Prof Nazrul Islam said ironically monsoon comes and road cutting takes place at the same time.

Utility service providers like Wasa (Water and Sewerage Authority), Desa (Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority) and such other organisations should work under the DCC, he suggested.

Referring to the good governance committee of the DCC, he said leadership of the committee lies with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). But it should be given to the DCC mayor as the PMO has a lot of other important work to do, he added.

He recommended that the mayor should have a coordination body comprising representatives of various departments and the ward commissioners should have a committee comprising local citizens and experts to supervise development projects and utility services.