Volunteers step in to end misery
Over the last four years, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) officials visited the two-kilometre dirt road -- in Shukurullahgaon village of Kamalganj upazila -- and took measurements three times, but did not repair it.
Fed up, the villagers finally took matters in their own hands and straightened out the road that is used daily by thousands in 10 villages of two neighbouring unions.
During a visit on November 14, at least 30 volunteers from Shukurullahgaon village were seen mending the road with whatever tools they had available. Some were bringing in dirt, while others were packing the dirt into large and small potholes that surfaced all over the road.
Sanjeeb Das, a retired teacher from the village said, thousands of residents in Adampur and Madhabpur unions have been suffering immensely as the Ghoramara-Shukurullahgaon road had been left unmaintained for four years.
The road was supposed to be paved a long while ago, but that did not happen either, he said frustratingly.
The impassable road not only became risky for children and the elderly, but it also had been affecting the local economy, said a number of villagers whose livelihoods mainly depend on agriculture.
Without a proper road, the farmers in the villages had been counting losses as they could not ensure timely delivery of their agricultural goods and produce to nearby markets, they added.
The makeshift repair work on the dirt road will last only till the next monsoon and the authorities should take immediate steps to pave it before the monsoon arrives, the villagers demanded.
One of the volunteers, Miraj Miah, said after seeing promises made by the authorities broken over the years, "we decided to carry out the repair work by ourselves."
"The dilapidated road has been a major cause for concern and we had our hopes up when the local UP chairman visited our area. But they broke all their promises too," said villager Anil Singha.
Babul Kumar Singh, a member of Madhabpur Union Parishad (UP), said after they informed LGED officials in Moulvibazar about the poor condition of the road, they came and took measurements of it three times over the past four years, but did not take any step to pave the road.
UP Chairman Pushpa Kumar Kanu said they asked the authorities to pave the Ghoramara-Shukurullahgaon road as well as other rundown roads in the union, but necessary funding was not available for the task.
When contacted, Deputy Assistant Engineer Mamun Bhuiyan of LGED in Kamalganj upazila said the Ghoramara-Shukurullahgaon road is the most important road in Adampur and Madhabpur unions.
Praising the villagers' efforts, he also said under a project proposal sent to the ministry, they included the name of the road in a list of roads that need to be repaired the upazila, but sufficient fund was yet to be available for it, he added.
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