KHULNA — Residents of Khulna’s remote Latha area in Paikgachha upazila say a delayed road project has been worsened by contractor negligence, with even a single spell of rain creating extreme hardship along the route.
The 2,940-meter carpeting road, budgeted at 24.9 million taka (about $210,000), runs from Shankardana ferry ghat — where a bridge is under construction — to Kathamari Bazar via Tentultola. The contractor began with bed cutting and filled sand on some sections but left most of the work undone. Recent monsoon rains and tidal water have since turned the road into a narrow channel, locals said.
Affected residents have urged authorities to complete the project quickly.
According to the upazila engineering department, the carpeting road from Shankardana ferry ghat through Tentultola to Kathamari Bazar in Paikgachha upazila’s Latha union was approved at 24.9 million taka under the Amphan project. A contracting firm, Jakaullah and Brothers Ltd. of Chuadanga, won the tender and began work.
Locals said the contractor cut the road bed and filled sand on one part but left the rest, creating the current conditions.
Residents allege that the long delay has allowed sluice gate water to seep through during rain and high tide, turning the road bed into a narrow canal. School and college students and other residents across a wide area are now struggling to get through.
Titon Biswas, the contractor’s roller operator at the site, said his team is on location but cannot move the roller into the project area because of poor access, severely disrupting the work.
Bijan Kumar Halder, the Ward 4 member, said sand had been filled on parts of the road but the rain-damaged access prevented the roller from entering, hampering progress.
Jahangir Hossain, sub-assistant engineer with the Paikgachha upazila engineering department, said the contracting firm had been pressed to drain water so residents would not suffer further. He pledged that work would move quickly once conditions improved.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report