Potholes and peril on Bagerhat road

Bagerhat's 52-kilometre-long Signboard–Sharankhola regional highway has turned into a nightmare for thousands of commuters and drivers, with around 16 kilometres of the road battered by countless potholes after the carpeting gave way.

Once a vital lifeline for the southern district, the highway has now become a source of daily misery and frequent accidents.

Rasheed Sheikh, a passenger travelling from Khulna to Dhaka, said, "The stretch from Amragachhia to Sharankhola is so dilapidated that no bus or vehicle can run smoothly. Every day one vehicle or another meets with an accident here."

Bus driver Sukhranjan Das added, "Whenever one vehicle tries to cross another, it ends up hitting a tree or scraping against another vehicle. The whole road is broken, single-lane, and after Morrelganj the situation becomes unbearable."

Another driver, Habib, said mechanical failures had become a regular ordeal for those plying the highway.

Nearly 5,000 vehicles travel the route every day, putting thousands at risk, said locals.

Sharankhola UNO Sudipto Kumar Singha said he had spoken to officials responsible for maintenance and they assured measures would be taken soon.

Executive Engineer of Bagerhat Roads and Highways Department Md Ashraful Islam said a tender had been floated to repair 15–16 kilometres of the road.

"Beyond that, there may still be damaged portions. You can see that rainfall has been unusually heavy this year and is still continuing. After it ends, we will repair it. One tender is under process, but final approval and contractor selection may take another month," he said.