Patuakhali Correspondent
A 1-kilometre road in Dashmina’s Bashbaria Union has received government allocations twice for construction and repair, but no work has been carried out, leaving thousands of people from three villages to suffer on the muddy, potholed road.
Locals allege that the funds were diverted by dishonest Upazila LGED officials to construct and repair a road in front of the house of a relative of former judge Zahirul Islam.
According to Dashmina LGED sources, the Bashbaria Launch Ghat-Rokman Bepari’s house road is listed as BC, or Bituminous Concrete, road No. 578525133. It was constructed at a cost of around Tk 50 lakh in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
In the last fiscal year, Tk 33,08,885 was allocated for its repair under the Rural Roads, Culverts and Bridges Maintenance and Rehabilitation (GOB-M) project. Merses Ekta Enterprise received the work through a tender in December 2025. The contractor completed the work on March 23 this year and received the final bill on April 27. The work was supervised by Dashmina Upazila LGED Sub-Assistant Engineer Md Lutfar Rahman.
However, the approved road remains a muddy dirt road with potholes. Locals said it had remained unpaved for 40 years and was used daily by thousands of people, including students of four educational institutions. They said they had secured approval for its construction after approaching various government offices, but no work was carried out despite two allocations.
An investigation found that a 1-kilometre paved road named Chan Mia Sikdar Road was constructed by Dashmina LGED in the same union using the allocation for the Bashbaria Launch Ghat-Rokman Bepari’s house road. The Chan Mia Sikdar Road has no approval or ID number, according to the report.
Locals allege that Chan Mia Sikdar, a relative of former judge Zahirul Islam, was given the road using funds allocated for another project. They further allege that the Tk 34 lakh allocated in the 2025-2026 fiscal year for repair of the approved road was again used on Chan Mia’s road.
Local residents Md Anis Khan, Jahangir Hossain, Mohibul Khan and Forkan Dalal alleged that LGED officials took illegal benefits in diverting the funds.
Contractor Md Masud Rana said he obtained the work through a tender and carried it out as instructed by the SO and Upazila Engineer. “I completed 100 per cent of the work and withdrew the final bill,” he said.
Md Lutfar Rahman denied taking any illegal benefit. Asked whether funds allocated for one road could be used for another, he said, “The mistake was made earlier. I have nothing to do with it.”
Current Upazila Engineer ATM Sadikur Rahman said there was no scope for using funds allocated under one project to construct or repair another road without an ID. He said he would investigate the matter and inform the higher authorities.
Patuakhali LGED Executive Engineer Md Waliar Rahman did not answer several calls to his official mobile number (01708-123229) or respond to a text message. #EK
