The 45-km-long Shariatpur–Chandpur regional highway is in a run-down condition and needs urgent repair. The appalling condition of this road has been hindering the movement of vehicles, such as  trucks, passenger buses and cars, on it.
No repair work has been done in the district’s only highway from Shariatpur to Chittagong via Chandpur and Shariatpur to Khulna–Benapole over the past seven years. This has made the road unfit for traffic movement, it has been alleged.
Big potholes and cracks on the road cause immense inconvenience to daily commuters.
Mohar Ali, Shamsul Haq, Minhaz Ali and Kolomai drive trucks on the Shariatpur-Chandpur regional highway. Complaining about the poor condition of the road, they said it is almost impossible to drive on the highway with big potholes and numerous cracks.
Sometimes loaded trucks fall into wayside ditches and valuabale goods get damaged, they allege.
The conditions of Shariatpur–Bhedarganj road, Shariatpur–Janjira road, Shariatpur–Burirhat road, Damudya–Gosairhat road, Sakhipur–Gosairhat road, Naria–Ghorishar road, Ghorishar–Bhedarganj road, Bhedarganj–Sakhipur road and Bhedarganj–Damudya roads are also woefully poor. Even though the miserable conditions of these roads have been reported in different dailies several times, no steps have been taken by the authorities concerned.
On the other hand, makeshift shops of tyres and tubes, repair shops, welding shops, steel furniture shops, saloons, fruits’ shops, tea stalls, hotels and restaurants have mushroomed by the roadside. Pedestrians at the risk of their own lives are forced to take the road, thereby hampering vehicular movement.
The district and upazila administration have failed to remove these unauthorised shops, although the decision was taken several times to evict them in meetings held in town and upazila sadar.
Besides, unlicensed battery-run vehicles ply on this stretch road by flouting traffic rules and accidents have become a common feature. It has been alleged that the police administration does not take any action against the unauthorised vehicles.
Anower Hassain, Miraz and Kalu alleged that they cannot ply their trucks or buses smoothly as the unauthorised vehicles move on the wrong side of the road and without any route permit. “Law enforcement agency do not take any action against them and accidents occur quite often,” one of them said.
When contacted, Md Sajjad Hossain, executive engineer of Shariatpur district LGED, said: “We’ve been trying to improve the road conditions, but some unauthorised vehicles are damaging the roads. We've tried to stop these vehicles, but without any success.”
Md Helal, inspector of traffic police at Shariatpur, said: “Unauthorised vehicles are plying on the roads as they have been patronised by influential political leaders in the locality. We can’t take any action against them. We're helpless in this regard.”