Khadija, a class nine student, takes a laborious journey on her way to school, as she has to cross a submerged road at the Hundir Beel of Shugandhi village under Sadar upazila.
About 50 students from the tiny huts of the locality use this road to go to different schools and madrasas.
Forty families have been living in this small village for about 60 years now.
The huts are only 1,200 metres away from the pucca road. Work of 800 metres was finished three years ago, while the rest remains incomplete due to objections from two landowners.
Azad Bhuiyan, one of the landowners, said he is dependent on his land for his livelihood, adding that he would give his land if he were compensated for that.
The villagers could only pay some money to middlemen hoping to get electricity, which remained a far cry for them over the years.
Abdur Rab Gazi, a villager, said they requested union parishad (UP) Chairman Mosharraf Hossain Khan Montu to address these problems. Much to their frustration, they are yet to see any steps to this end.
“If anyone gets sick, we cannot transport the patient to the hospital in due time,” said Fatema Begum, a resident of Hundir Beel. She also mentioned that some children have stopped going to school due to this communication difficulties.
Besides, Amjuma Begum, 110, Ayesha Begum, 90, Abul Hossain, 85, Latifa Khatun, 75, and Salamat Khan, 85, are among the villagers who are not getting old age allowances, complained Sufiya Khatun, another elderly resident.
The UP chairman said steps would be taken to solve the problems of the Hundir Beel residents with local mediation.
