Road to Kuakata awfully bad
Patuakhali--Kuakata road remains awfully dilapidated for long, making immense trouble for the tourists as well as the locals. The photo was taken from Pakhimara area a few days ago.Photo: STAR
Twenty-five kilometre stretch of Patuakhali-Kuakata road connecting Kuakata with the rest of the country has become awfully dilapidated, causing a serious blow to tourism at one of the countries' most attractive scenic spots. Vehicles ply with high risk on the 15 km road between Amtali to Kalapara and 10 km between Kalapara to Hajipur as large potholes have appeared on the road. The situation causes impediments to the development of tourism industry in the area, which was beginning to recover from the ruins left behind by the cyclone Sidr on November 15 in 2007. Bad condition of the 25-kilometre road poses a serious problem for thousands of tourists who visit the area every year, said workers in local hotels, restaurants and other tourism dependent businesses in Kuakata. They blamed the government for ignoring the urgent needs of the highly prospective tourist spot for years. Kuakata was declared Exclusive Tourist Zone in 1996 but no infrastructural development has taken place here. Roads and Highways Department (RHD) built the only paved road covering less than 200 metres to facilitate access to the department's two guesthouses in Kuakata. The remaining road network in the area is earthen and it becomes inaccessible during the rainy season. Expressing his dismay at the prevailing condition of roads, Golam Sarwar, owner of Sky Palace, a hotel in Kuakata, said, "Tourists are not encouraged to visit the area at all. The beauty of Kuakata reaches its peak during the rainy season but the area becomes almost inaccessible that time.” Wahiduzzaman Sohel, owner of Kuakata International, said, "There is hardly bookings of seat in Kuakata hotels although Eid is knocking at the door. Every Eid season good numbers of tourists visit the area to enjoy natural beauty with sunrise and sunset." In last years tourists suffered a lot, as the only road connecting the tourist spot became ramshackle, he said. The bad shape of the roads is also affecting the hilsa and hatchery industries. Loaded trucks often get stuck into the potholes on the road. Hundreds of people requiring urgent medical help also suffer due to lack of good road. Shawkat Ali, executive engineer for RHD said, "Heavy rains damaged nearly 100 kilometres of road network in the region. We already issued work order to rebuild 22 km from Kalapara to Kuakata and contractor will start work just after the ongoing rainy season. Tender is under process for 15 km road from Amtali to Kalapara."
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