Paindong Residents Suffer as Road Repairs and Upgrades Stall
Residents of Paindong Union in Fatickchhari upazila are enduring immense suffering due to years of neglect and lack of maintenance on vital local roads. A field visit to Ward No. 3 revealed a dire infrastructure crisis, where previously paved herringbone brick roads have deteriorated into hazardous potholes, and several essential dirt tracks remain unpaved. As these key connecting routes become virtually impassable, public anger is mounting over the prolonged absence of repair and development initiatives across the region.
The dilapidated conditions affect several critical stretches, including the road near Jahur Member’s house, which has lacked renovation for nearly two decades. The connecting route to freedom fighter Babul Bhowmik’s house, unpaved since Independence, features a culvert built in the 2015-16 fiscal year, but its benefits remain unfulfilled due to unpaved approach roads. Additionally, the vital 1.5-kilometre route from Heyako Road to Hazrat Abdul Malek Shah, used daily by students and commuters, has become severely hazardous as its brick surfacing has completely worn away.
Further aggravating the crisis, a 1,200-foot road from freedom fighter Bazlur Rahman’s house to Chan Gazi Mosque in North Haidchakia has remained unpaved since 1971. The road from Sebakhola to Karun Sikdar’s house has not been renovated in 20 years, leaving its displaced bricks unusable. Severe potholes and ditches near the residences of Navy Fazlul Karim, Chowkidar Shafi, and Ali Ahmed continue to obstruct vehicular movement, leaving local travellers and commuters trapped in daily distress across both unpaved dirt paths and broken paved sections.
Local UP Member Tajul Islam expressed deep frustration over the persistent administrative neglect, alleging that no development projects have been allocated to Ward No. 3 in the last two years. He said, ‘No projects have been given to my Ward No. 3 for the past two years. Despite lobbying with various offices, I received no projects. Almost every road in my ward lies dilapidated. Due to ditches and potholes on the road near Chowkidar Shafi’s house, residents are enduring extreme hardship’.
Responding to the allegations, Fatickchhari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sayed Mohammad Ibrahim emphasised the need for equitable development, stating that leaving any area behind is unacceptable. He said, ‘This is actually not right. Work should be carried out equally across all wards. We try to ensure equal distribution of union-based allocations among all wards. The chairmen are also supposed to coordinate this. If no work has been done in a particular ward, then it is inappropriate. No ward should be left behind’. Long-suffering residents have now demanded urgent physical inspections and immediate priority projects.
