Staff Reporter :
The recently widened 50-foot Mugda-Manda Road, under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), has narrowed again due to re-encroachment following eviction drives.
Half a dozen shops have set up on both sides of the road, obstructing traffic flow.
No complaints have been filed with the city corporation, so authorities have not taken new initiatives to clear the road. DSCC officials have expressed their helplessness in advancing repair work, citing the absence of elected representatives.
The road passes through wards 6, 71, and 72 of DSCC. It used to suffer daily traffic jams due to narrowness. To ease public suffering, RAJUK included the road’s expansion to 50 feet in the detailed area plan of Dhaka.
In 2024, as part of the development plan, DSCC and RAJUK evicted illegal structures along nearly one kilometer from Mugda Bishwaroad to Manda Haidar Ali High School, with repair work scheduled afterward.
However, repairs halted following the government’s fall amid public uprisings, allowing over half of the road to be re-occupied. The 50-foot road has now shrunk to nearly half its width.
Nurul Haq, a battery-operated rickshaw driver from Mugda, said, “For one and a half years, the road’s condition has been unpredictable. Sometimes work happens, sometimes it stops. Everything depends on their whims. No rules are followed.”
Near Mugda Boro Mosque, the road is occupied from both sides toward Manda. On the north side, a grocery and oil shop named Haji Enterprise has constructed a canopy and veranda over the road.
Although shops near the mosque were evicted earlier, they have been rebuilt, taking up half of the road in that area.
