Thousands of people in Dhanbari of Tangail have been suffering immensely as a dilapidated road in the upazila lies without repair for a long time.
According to local sources, the road passes through Bhatkura village of Paiska Union under Dhanbari Upazila towards Mushuddi village.
Thousands of people from Birtara, Bolibodrow, Mushuddi, and Paiska unions travel along the road every day. Most of the paved portions of the road, adjacent to small and large pits, have collapsed into the Bairan River. Consequently, travel on this road has become risky. However, there are no efforts from the relevant authorities to repair the road.
Vehicles, including auto-rickshaws, vans, minibuses, and motorcycles move with great risk on the road. The local farmers transport their agricultural products to market, paying double the cost due to this situation.
Auto-rickshaw drivers Abdul Alim and Rasedul Islam, along with many others, said the road has now become a death trap. People are getting into accidents while travelling at night.
Vegetable trader A Rahim Mia said, “Most of the vegetables are produced in Mushuddi and Bolibodrow Union of the upazila. No one wants to travel on this broken road. So, it is very difficult to take vegetables to the market. It costs extra to go to the market using other roads.”
Local Mukul Hossain said, “The condition of the road is very bad. A few days ago, while riding a bicycle at night, I fell into the river and dislocated my right shoulder joint. Now, I cannot do any work as before."
Faruk Hossain from the Bhatkura village said, "The road began to decay about four years ago. Some repairs were done by the upazila administration at that time. Despite repeated complaints from villagers to various representatives, no attention has been paid. Hence, villagers collected donations ranging from Tk 10 to Tk 50 to repair the broken parts."
Residents Belal Hossain and Asadujjaman said that Koka Mian from Bhatkura village drowned in the river while travelling the road at night. Many others have been injured falling into the river from this road.
Dhanbari Upazila LGED Engineer Md Shafiqul Islam Mondal said, “The file has been sent to the higher authorities for the implementation of the project to repair the road.”
Regarding this issue, Paiska Union Parishad Chairman Jahangir Alam Babul said, “We are trying to take necessary measures to repair the road as soon as possible.”
