217 Roads in Brahmanpara Crumble, Residents Suffer
Md. Abdul Alim Khan, from Brahmanpara (Cumilla)
The condition of 217 gazetted roads in Brahmanpara Upazila of Cumilla has become very poor. Since the terrible flood of 2024, ordinary people in the area have suffered greatly on these roads. The Upazila engineering office says about 381 kilometres of road became unfit for travel after the flood. Some roads were repaired later, but most of them are still in a sad state.
Sources at the Upazila Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) said the gazetted roads under 8 unions include 210 kilometres of earthen road and 171 kilometres of paved road. Most roads were damaged after the flood. Repair work on several roads has ended. For the rest, the tender process is either complete or still going on.
Locals told our reporter that they face accidents all the time on these roads, which are their main way to travel. Mr. Monu Mia, a resident of Sidlai village, said he needs to take pain killers after a trip from Sidlai to Brahmanpara. He said that at night, it is hard even for animals and birds to use this road, let alone people.
The same picture was seen on the Boro Dhushia, Nagaish and Shoshidol road. Mr. Helal Uddin, a regular passenger on this road, said you cannot understand what a road is, and how many kinds there are, unless you travel here. He said the people of Nagaish made the road fit for travel at their own cost after the flood of 2024. He said two and a half years have passed, and nothing has changed in a visible way. He said a tender was issued recently, but the work is going very slowly.
The road to Mondobag Deus through South Chandla is also in a very bad state. Mr. Abdul Khaleque travels to Brahmanpara Sadar every day for his job. He said it is impossible to run a rickshaw or a CNG auto rickshaw on this road. He said even walking has become hard.
Other roads in the worst condition in the Upazila include the Dulalpur and Balina road, the Brahmanpara and Sidlai road, and the Sidlai and Kandughor road. The Harimongol and Bagra road, the North Chandla and Balakia road, and the Sidlai and Berakhola road are also in the list. So are the Bareshwar and Jiruin road, the Jiruin and Ramnagar road, and the Brahmanpara and Dulalpur road.
Mr. Golap Hossain Bhuiyan is an engineer at the Brahmanpara Upazila LGED. He said the tender process for most of the damaged earthen and paved roads in the Upazila is either complete or going on. He said work has already started on some roads, and the rest will start soon. He said he hopes visible progress will appear within the next few months, and that the work on the roads will be done.
