DEBIDWAR, Cumilla — The Roads and Highways Department has begun repair work on the Debidwar section of the Cumilla-Sylhet highway, where National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Hasnat Abdullah had announced a blockade in protest of the road’s poor condition.
Contractor Apsara Trade International began work Tuesday afternoon at the New Market area of Debidwar town to widen a 252-meter stretch of road to 48 feet, at a cost of 4.69 crore taka. Local residents hope the work will ease their long-running hardships once completed.
Hasnat Abdullah, chief organizer of the southern region for the National Citizen Party, had announced a blockade of the Cumilla-Sylhet highway in protest of the road’s poor condition.
At the time, an audio clip of a mobile phone conversation between Hasnat Abdullah and Syed Moinul Hasan, chief engineer of the Roads and Highways Department, went viral on social media. In the clip, Hasnat warned that if work on the road did not begin by Oct. 20, no vehicle would be allowed to pass through the road from 2 p.m. the following day, and that if necessary, the road would be used to cultivate rice and fish.
Soon after the audio went viral, Cumilla Roads and Highways executive engineer Khandakar Golam Mostafa visited the damaged section in Debidwar and pledged a quick repair, after which Hasnat Abdullah suspended his blockade plan.
Khandakar Golam Mostafa said the 252-meter stretch from Phulgachhtala to New Market in Debidwar would be widened by 24 feet on each side, to a total of 48 feet. The work is scheduled to take four months, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report