The Moulvibazar-Rajnagar-Kheyaghat Bazar route is now impassable due to a lack of repair. Although the road’s capacity and operation have long since expired, there is no cause for alarm among those involved. The road from Rajnagar Sadar is barely 17 kilometers long and was transferred from LGUD to the road department in 2019, however it has yet to be renovated. Although the tender procedure to repair the road is ongoing, the reconstruction work cannot be completed due to budgetary constraints in the country, including political changes, according to a source at the office in question.

On the ground, it can be seen that due to many parts of the road being low, last year’s terrible flood and this year’s flood, the embankment of the Manu River broke and water entered the Kawadighi Haor beside the road and many places of Rajnagar Sadar, Pachgaon and Fatehpur unions of the road were submerged. Due to heavy traffic congestion, many places have become inaccessible for vehicles. Accidents are on the rise due to continuous flooding.

The Moulvibazar Road Division said that since 2019, when the Moulvibazar Road and Highways Division was transferred from the LGED, they did not do any renovation work except for brick-soling as no big budget came up.

Around 90 per cent of the roads are damaged. Besides, waterlogging occurred at several places including Rajnagar Sadar, Mokambazar, Azad Bazar and Madhuradokan due to continuous rain. The road is getting narrower day by day due to encroachments in different parts of the road. As a result, vehicles are not able to ply on the road as usual. Due to this, about 3 lakh people of Rajnagar and Balaganj upazilas of Sylhet have been deprived of better connectivity and business. Recently, a proposal was sent to ply a ferry on the Kushiyara River to ease the connectivity of Sylhet with Moulvibazar, but it has not yet seen the light of the day. Accidents are increasing in Kushiyara due to the lack of ferry transportation. The road department has already completed all the works, including the design of the bridge, to build a bridge in Kushiyara by acquiring land and straightening the 17 km road with two lanes. It costs Rs. 1 lakh.

After examining some places on the Kushiyara river on the other side of the road, it was finally decided that the bridge would be built over Hamidpur in the Rajnagar section and Radhakona village in the Balaganj section across the river. The engineers of the Road Department prepared the design of the bridge with the findings from the government high-rise. Construction of the bridge is currently underway. In addition, a consultant has been appointed for the repair of the connecting road of the bridge of Rajnagar Upazila. Although the project is supposed to be finalized at the highest level of the government, the road is not seeing the light of change in the political context.

Amir Ali, a former chairman candidate of Fatehpur union in Rajnagar upazila, said the road has become almost unusable for vehicular movement as it has not been repaired for a long time. As a result, buses and auto-rickshaws are not plying properly.

Rajnagar upazila Jamaat’s Ameer Abur Raiyan Shaheen said more than two lakh people of Kushiyara Par upazila use the road. Due to lack of renovation, a part of the road was disconnected on the occasion of Puja in the country’s largest puja mandap “Panchgao.” Commuters travelling to Moulvibazar and Balaganj had a tough time. The need of the hour is to repair the road.

Jami Ahmed, vice-president of district BNP and former chairman of Fatehpur union, said the road has become defunct due to lack of renovation. The roads in both the taluks need immediate repair.

Meanwhile, Md Kaiser Hamid, executive engineer of Moulvibazar Roads and Highways Division, said tenders have been invited to repair the road. “The tender has been invited from the additional Sylhet zone. Reforms are more likely to happen if the budget is not tightened.