Dull season at Kuakata
Kuakata tourist spot is experiencing a dull season due to the rainy season.
Hotels, motels, restaurants in the sea beach give a deserted look as businesses lack customers.
The road condition has added to the situation.
Bad condition of 14 kms of the road out of total 22 linking Kalapara and Kuakata discourages tourists. The road is badly damaged and risky for all vehicles. Heavy rains have now created large potholes on the road surface and rendered it unusable.
Construction work of the bridge on Hazipur and Kalapara rivers is yet to begin while the ferry terminals go under water during high tide especially during full moon and new moon disrupting communication further.
Kuakata is a unique beach as the sun can be seen both rising and setting there. To enjoy nature's beauty, a good number of tourists from home and abroad visit Kualata every year.
In the rainy season, natural scenes become more attractive in the areas and tourists can visit the spot to get rid of monotony.
But over a hundred residential hotels, motels in the area are now suffering from tourist crisis.
Habibur Rahman, manager of Nilanjona, a residential hotel in the area, said, "We have 39 rooms in our hotel and not even five were booked a day in the last few days."
"We have to spend minimum Tk 1.5 lakh as maintenance cost but income remains below Tk 50 thousand per month", he added.
"Many booked our rooms over phone from Dhaka and other places. They cancelled the bookings and returned home after reaching the risky damaged part of the road", the manager added.
"This is a common tale for all residential hotels here", he remarked.
Ruhul Amin, owner of a restaurant in Kuakata said, "Not even 10 customers visit my place a day. If the situation continues it will be difficult to run our business."
"Whenever a government comes to power, it promises to develop Kuakata and its road communication but forgets it in no time", Ruhul Amin added.
Meher Laboni, a housewife of Savar area in Dhaka who was visiting Kuakata said, "The trip from Pakhimara to Kuakata is very risky. The road is in so bad shape, I do not know how we will go back."
"Government should take immediate steps to ensure smooth journey to Kuakata from Dhaka and other parts in the country to make tours safe and enjoyable", Laboni added.
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