Crumbling Highways in Southwest Bangladesh Disrupt Trade and Commerce

Abu Hena Mukti, Daily Inqilab

The highways that serve as the main arteries for 21 districts in the southern and southwestern parts of the country are in a sad state. Large stretches of key highways in Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Jashore and other areas have countless potholes and big craters. Some roads get no repair at all. In other places, the bitumen and stone chips come off within days of a token repair. The roads have turned into death traps, and lakhs of daily travellers, transport workers and passengers suffer greatly.

According to sources, the southwestern region is important for agriculture, fisheries, shrimp, industry and trade. Producers depend on roads and highways to send goods to different parts of the country. When bad roads slow down goods vehicles, the goods take extra time to arrive. Fuel costs, vehicle maintenance costs and transport costs can also rise. Delays hit traders hard when they carry farm produce, fish and other perishable goods that need fast delivery. This may push up market prices and affect consumers in the end.

The poor state of many roads and highways in the region causes severe suffering for ordinary passengers, transport workers, traders and drivers of goods vehicles. In some places the road surface has come off and left big holes. In other places, standing water hides the broken parts. Small and large vehicles take a risk every day when they use these roads. The fear of accidents grows, and traders and ordinary people lose money because of the extra time and transport cost.

A field visit showed that the worst roads are on the main routes of the region. These include the Khulna Satkhira highway, the Khulna Mongla highway, the Khulna Paikgachha Koyra road and the link roads of the Jashore and Kushtia areas. On several points of the highway from Khulna Zero Point towards Chuknagar and Satkhira, the carpeting has come off and bricks and stones lie bare. After a little rain, water fills the holes and they look like ponds. This creates a serious risk for long distance drivers and drivers of small vehicles.

The bad state of the highways hurts the import and export work of Mongla Port and the Bhomra and Benapole land ports the most. Trucks and covered vans cannot reach their destinations on time. Vehicles often break down or overturn on the way and cause long traffic jams. Farmers in the region also cannot send their produce to the market on time, and they face heavy financial losses.

Drivers say small and big accidents happen almost every day as they try to dodge the potholes. Patients in ambulances and their relatives suffer without limit. Sometimes a patient’s condition gets worse from the severe shaking on the road before the ambulance reaches the hospital. Pedestrians and ordinary passengers also struggle with dust and muddy water. Many old and unfit vehicles run on several routes, but the monitoring agencies show little sign of watching them.

People see several main causes behind the poor condition of the roads. These are continuous heavy rain, poorly planned drainage, a lack of enough drains beside the roads and the movement of overloaded vehicles. When rainwater stays on the road for a long time, the layer of bitumen breaks down in many places. Then heavy vehicles turn small holes into big ones. Water often hides the depth of a hole from far away. Drivers of motorcycles, easy bikes, auto rickshaws and other small vehicles face more risk. The danger rises further at night when there is not enough light.

The Jashore Khulna highway is one of the most important routes in the southwestern region. It matters greatly for industry, trade, farm produce transport and travel between districts in the Khulna region. When people question the road quality, the durability of repairs and the drainage on different parts of the highway, passengers and transport workers pay the price. The government spends public money on road repair, but people say new holes appear again within a short time in many places. This raises questions about the quality of the repair work, the proper use of materials, the supervision of the work and the drainage of the roads.

Affected people and local traders have demanded that the authorities rebuild these key highways of the southwestern region as soon as possible in a lasting and quality way. They also want regular supervision. People involved warn that a major breakdown in communication may follow if the authorities fail to act.

Mr. Mahbubur Rahman Munna, President of the Khulna Metropolitan branch of Nirapad Sarak Chai (Nischa), told Inqilab that road communication is closely tied to the economy and daily life of the southwestern region. So, he said, people cannot see the development and upkeep of the highways of this region as mere infrastructure work.

Mr. Md. Mahbubul Alam Khan, Additional Chief Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department in Khulna, said the department has already invited four tenders for the RCC project from Khulna Zero Point to Chuknagar. He said it has also completed all tender procedures. He hopes the contractor firms can start work very soon. The officer, who is in charge of the highways concerned, also said that once the development work is done, most of the broken condition of the highways in the Khulna region will end.