Patuakhali-Galachipa Road
Movement of vehicles on worst 5km stops
Large potholes and muddy surface at places has made five-kilometre portion of Patuakhali-Galachipa road from Suhari Bridge to Amkhola virtually unfit for vehicular movement, especially during the ongoing rainy season. The photo taken a few days ago shows a loaded truck stuck on a pothole at Amkhola Bazar.Photo: STAR
Five kilometre portion of 17-km-long Patuakhali-Galachipa road has become virtually unfit for vehicular movement as condition of the rundown road, marked by large potholes, has worsened due to heavy rainfall in the on-going rainy season. Movement of vehicles from Suhari bridge area to Amkhola area on Patuakhali-Galachipa road has already stopped, much to the sufferings of locals. This correspondent recently saw a goods-laden truck got stuck on the potholes at Amkhola Bazar area. Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) built 17 km road from Sakharia to Horidevpur for movement of light vehicles to ease communication between Galachipa upazila and Patuakhali district town during 1996-2001 tenure of the then Awami League government. But from the beginning, heavy vehicles including loaded trucks continued plying the road, causing serious damage to it. Many potholes appeared on the road, especially on the above-mentioned five km portion. After the serious damage caused by cyclone Aila on May 25 in 2009, LGED made some repair work of the road but it proved inadequate. Vehicles including passenger buses now ply from Patuakhali town to Amkhola Bazar. From there locals use tomtom (a locally developed mechanised van) to reach Galachipa upazila town. "Now most of the road looks like pieces of land prepared for cultivation. Earlier on several occasions we demanded repair of the road on emergency basis but to no effect," said Anwar Hossain, chairman of Amkhola union parishad. He suggested developing the narrow and rundown road to make it a regional highway. When contacted, an LGED official in Patuakhali said tender has already been called to repair the road and work will start after the rainy season.
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