Repair road or face strike

Bus-truck owners and workers at a human chain programme in the Dariapara area here yesterday demanded repair of the dilapidated Chapainawabganj-Rajshahi Highway.

Several hundred people also joined the one-hour human chain from 10:00am.

The speakers at the rally said they would call a strike if the authorities concerned do not repair the road in 15 days.

They said the people have been suffering for the last two years as 16 kilometres of the 48-kilometre road from Chapainawabganj to Rajshahi remained in an awful condition. The road was damaged due to lack of repair work and water-logging in the rainy season, they added.

A good number of vehicles with imported goods from Sonamasjid land port to different destinations in the country and several hundred other vehicles use this road everyday, they said.

Speakers said carpeting on the road has eroded and cracks and holes have developed due to lack of repair for long, making vehicular movement highly risky.

District Bus Owners' Association President FKM Lutfar Rahman Firoz, District Truck Owners' Group President Aminul Islam Sentu and District Truck and Motor Sramik Union President Saidur Rahman spoke at the rally.

Chapainawabganj RHD Executive Engineer Suniti Chakma said a tender was floated that would be opened on November 15 in this regard. The repair work of the road would start in December, he hoped.