The 63-kilometer Satkhira-Shyamnagar-Vetkhali highway has become unfit for travel as no proper maintenance work was carried out for a long time. As a result, residents of five upazilas of the district are facing immense hardship every day.
Over the past 24 years, the condition of this vital highway only deteriorated. The poor condition of the highway not only make travel dangerous but also increase transportation costs, ultimately driving up the price of goods.
Thousands of vehicles use this crucial route daily. Hundreds of thousands of people from Shyamnagar, Kaliganj, Ashashuni, and Debhata upazilas travel on this highway every day, as they have to commute to the Satkhira district town, Khulna, Jessore, and even the capital city for business, medical treatment, education, and other essential activities. Additionally, a portion of this road is used by vehicles heading to the important Bhomra land port.
Large portions of the road have severe damage, with numerous potholes in various part of the highway. Accidents frequently occur, leading to tragic consequences. Just on November 9, an accident on this road in the Gazirhat area claimed the life of a fish trader, while six others were injured and admitted to different hospitals
The Roads and Highways Department stated that although a tender was issued for the road’s repair at an estimated cost of Tk 822 crore 44 lakh, work has not yet started due to delays in contractor selection.
This road also serves as the sole route for tourists visiting the Sundarbans in the Satkhira range, known for its stunning natural beauty. However, despite the importance of this road, it has not been properly maintained in the last 24 years. Occasionally, low-quality patching work with gravel, sand, and basic paving is done to temporarily address the worst areas, but this fails to provide a long-term solution.
They added that it takes four to five hours to travel from Dhaka to Satkhira, yet it requires another four hours to travel from Satkhira town to Munshiganj in Shyamnagar. For people requiring urgent medical treatment, the road conditions often worsen their health, and sometimes, patients even pass away on the journey. Residents are urging the government to prioritize and accelerate road repairs.
The Satkhira Roads and Highways Department said that under the previous government, a project was approved by the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges to upgrade the Satkhira-Vetkhali highway, with a budget of Tk 822 crore 12 lakh. The project received approval from ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) on November 9 in 2023, and was scheduled to be completed by June 30 in 2026. A tender was issued on April 30 in 2024, and submitted to the Ministry for contractor selection, but no contractor has been chosen yet, which is why work has not started.
The last major repairs to this road were done in 1998, followed by minor repairs in 2000, when 22 crore taka was allocated to fix high-risk areas. Small sections of the road were strengthened with herringbone brickwork to ensure they remained passable.
Professor Abdul Hamid, a local academic, noted that Satkhira produces a substantial amount of fish. There are also crab farms in Kaliganj, Debhata, and Shyamnagar. Transporting these products to other districts, or bringing in goods from outside, is challenging, as truck drivers hesitate to travel this road, demanding higher fares due to poor conditions, which raises transportation costs significantly for traders.
He further mentioned that the primary attraction of Satkhira is its road access to the Sundarbans, making it the only district in Bangladesh where the Sundarbans can be reached by road. However, due to the dilapidated state of the Satkhira-Shyamnagar road, fewer tourists are interested in visiting. This situation has severely impacted the livelihoods of locals reliant on Sundarbans-centered tourism.
Executive Engineer Satkhira Roads and Highways Department, Anwar Parvez. Said that a budget of Tk 18 crore 22 lakh was allocated in 2000 for minor repairs to the road. Later, in 2023, a draft project was submitted to the ministry, proposing a four-lane upgrade for 35 kilometers area of the road from Satkhira to Kaliganj and a two-lane upgrade on the remaining 27 kilometers from Kaliganj to Vetkhali. A tender was called for on April 30 in 2024, with an estimated cost of Tk 822 crore 12 lakh.
He added that the tender was submitted to the ministry for contractor selection on (CS) last July, but it remains pending. The approval process for the tenders is being delayed for the last four months. If approvals and contractor selection are not completed promptly, it will not be possible to initiate repairs to the road anytime soon.
