Protest Over Poor Road Condition
Daylong strike observed in Joypurhat
Transport operators and workers of different routes in Joypurhat jointly observed a day-long transport strike yesterday, protesting severely battered road condition.
Due to the day-long strike, hundreds of commuters, travelling different routes of the district, had to suffer immensely.
During a visit to the area this correspondent saw many people were travelling on three-wheelers to go to their destinations.
Grocer Shahrul Alam of Panchbibi upazila said he had to go through immense suffering while traveling to Joypurhat town which is only 15 kilometres from Panchbibi upazila headquarters.
Joypurhat Transport Owners Association President Bedarul Islam said all the roads are in bad shape.
Besides, Bogura-Joypurhat and Joypurhat-Hili roads are in most dilapidated condition and need immediate renovation, he added.
Carpeting on most of the affected roads have worn away and numerous potholes developed on those, posing life risks to the passengers and transport workers and causing frequent road accidents on the battered roads.
The situation aggravated further due to heavy rain in the last couple of days, he said, adding that passengers have to spend more time to go to their destinations due to the bad road condition.
He said transport owners are counting huge financial loss as the vehicles, plying the dilapidated roads, have to burn massive amount of fuels and often get damaged due to bumping.
Bedarul urged the authorities concerned to look into the issue seriously and also threatened to go for more agitation if the situation does not improve in near future.
Zahangir Alam, president of Joypurhat Transport Workers Union, said they observed the strike not to cause suffering to anyone but to create awareness about safety on roads.
He also hinted to go for a tougher agitation if the situation remain unchanged.
Joypurhat Roads and Highways Executive Engineer Tanvir Siddiqui said development work of different roads have been going on but the recent rain has have aggravated the road condition a bit more.