A 16 kms stretch on the Patuakhali-Galachipa road from Shakharia to Golachipa is in a deplorable condition with potholes all over.

People of Galachipa and Rangabali upazilas are forced to use the road despite the risk of accidents. The Roads and Highways Department has been saying that the construction will would start soon, but the situation has remained the same for several months.

At Sialkot, a place on the highway, stones used for the highway has become lose and are mixing with mud. Holes of different sizes have developed at different spots. It takes several hours to travel a distance that is supposed to be covered in around two hours. The increasing risk of accidents is worsening the situation. There have been several mishaps on this broken highway already.

According to the locals, large holes were first seen on the road of Sluice Gate, Amkhola, Mudir Hat and Badura area. At some places the holes are so big that the passengers have to get down from the car. As a result, a huge amount of time is being wasted for the passenger buses and other vehicles.

Zaheer, a bus driver, said that the road was so bad that buses trembled violently when they passed this stretch. It causes a lot of suffering to passengers and damages the car. It takes almost two and a half hour to cross this stretch. That leaves the passengers impatient. The passengers and transport drivers expose themselves to a lot of risk while travelling on this road.

On the other hand, a 12-km road from Pakhimara to the Mahipur fish port of the Patuakhali-Kuakata highway is in an unusable condition due to lack of maintenance. Locals, including tourists, suffer a lot daily while crossing this 12-km stretch of the high way.

The road condition has deteriorated mainly because by the use of low quality material and the corruption of the contractor including the management concerned. This stretch of the road requires immediate repairs because it is also used by tourists visiting the Kuakata tourist resort.

Golam Mawla, general secretary of the bus-minibus owners’ association, Patuakhali, said that Patuakhali-Galachipa and Patuakhali-Kuakata roads were important thoroughfares. However, due to lack of repair, accidents were taking place frequently. The communication between Galachipa and Patuakhali would stop if the road was not immediately repaired, they feared.

Mir Nizam Uddin, the Executive Engineer of Patuakhali Roads and High Ways, said “A 16-km stretch of the road from Shakharia to Galachipa will be reconstructed soon under the road development project. At the same time, we will repair the Pakhimara to Mahipur portion of the road of Patuakhali-Kuakata highway.”