Road to Kuakata in awfully bad shape for years
The 14-kilometre-long road from Pakhimara to Kuakata on Patuakhali-Kuakata highway has remained in an awfully dilapidated condition due to lack of renovation for years.
Vehicles ply amid risk the rundown and potholed road connecting Kuakata, an important tourism centre in the southern region, with the rest of the country.
The road becomes virtually unusable, especially during the rainy season.
During a visit on July 1, this correspondent saw over 30 vehicles including passenger buses and hilsa-laden trucks stuck at different spots on the road including Pakhimara, Ghutabacha, Hazipur and Omedpur.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) renovated 62 km road from Lebukhali ferry ghat to Kalapara upazila town this year.
The RHD also issued work order to construction firms Khan Enterprize and Rupsha Enterprize for repairing the rest 22 km long road from Kalapara to Kuakata. Each of the firms got 11 km road to renovate. Rupsha Enterprize completed works of 8 out of the 11 km road while Khan Enterprise utterly failed to do their work. And so, 14 km road has remained unfit for movement of vehicles. Heavy rainfall during the last several days worsened the situation.
Md Lutfar Rahman, project director of Rupsha Enterprise, said, “We suspended works a month ago due to fund crisis. We will restart the work when the rains end.”
Nobody of Khan Enterprise was found at their site.
The bad condition of the 14-kilometre road poses a serious problem for thousands of tourists in the area, said workers of local hotels, restaurants and other tourism dependent businesses in Kuakata.
“Now tourists are not encouraged to visit Kuakata. The rainy season adds to the beauty of the tourist spot but the area becomes almost inaccessible at the time. Tourists suffered a lot during the last couple of years as the only road leading to it has remained in a very bad condition,” said Golam Sarwar, owner of Sky Palace hotel in Kuakata.
Kuakata was declared an ‘exclusive tourist zone’ in 1996 but there has been hardly any infrastructural development.
Commuters from Kuakata suffer a lot due to lack of smooth road communication.
People requiring urgent medical help are the worst victims of the situation.
The transport problem is also badly affecting hilsa and hatchery industries.
Fazlu Gazi, president of Mohipur Hilsa Traders Association, said, “Bad shape of the 14-kilometre road is causing huge losses to our business. Our merchandise rots when a loaded truck gets stuck in a pothole.”
“Heavy rains have damaged nearly 14 kilometres of under construction road in the area. We are starting work under ‘periodic maintenance programme’ to keep the roads fit for use in the rainy season,” said Jahirul Islam Khan, deputy-assistant engineer for RHD.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
