S A Shofiee,Sylhet:
After the rural road communication system in Sylhet region collapsed in the terrible floods of the past, a Tk 500 crore project was proposed during the previous government to renovate 500 kilometers of roads in four districts of the division on an emergency basis. It has not been approved yet. As a result, there is no hope of alleviating the misery of the people of Sylhet. The miserable condition of the roads has reached its peak.
Many roads in 35 upazilas of the division, including Companiganj, Gowainghat, Kanaighat, Jaintapur in Sylhet and Doarabazar, Bishwambharpur, Jamalganj, Tahirpur, Chhatak, Jagannathpur in Sunamganj, have now become death traps. In some places, roads and bridges-culverts have been completely wiped out by the floodwaters. Although allocations were sought for road renovation at various times, no effective steps were taken during the previous government’s tenure, resulting in endless suffering. The plight of the people has reached its peak due to the pathetic condition of the roads. Vehicles are being destroyed, transportation costs are increasing. This is also having a serious impact on the tourism industry in the Sylhet region.
The floods of 2017, 2022 and the latest 2024 caused a terrible disaster in the socio-economic context of Sylhet. The communication system was practically paralyzed in these three floods.
AKM Shahidul Islam, Senior Assistant Engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Sylhet, said, ‘Although rural road infrastructure development projects were approved in seven out of the eight divisions of the country during the previous government’s tenure, Sylhet division was deprived. As a result, there was no opportunity to repair the damaged roads at the upazila and union levels.
