Residents have faced severe hardship due to the long-deteriorated condition of the road on both sides of the historic Raichpur Bridge in Ward No. 7 of Satkhira Municipality. Even light rain causes mud and water to pool on both sides of the bridge, virtually halting vehicle and pedestrian movement. To ease this public suffering, members of the youth wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Satkhira Municipality Ward No. 7 unit carried out temporary repair work on both sides of the road.
Friday (Sept. 4) morning, organization members and volunteers took part in the repair work under the leadership of local youth wing president Abdus Samad. They cleared the accumulated mud on both sides of the bridge and laid bricks to make the road temporarily passable.
Locals allege that even light rain causes mud and water to pool on both sides of the bridge, disrupting the movement of motorcycles, vans, rickshaws, bicycles and other vehicles. Pedestrians also face hardship walking through the area. They said the poor condition frequently causes small and large accidents.
Raichpur youth wing president Abdus Samad said the temporary repair work was carried out on their own initiative to reduce public suffering and accidents. However, he said, this is not a permanent solution. He called on the relevant authorities, LGED and Satkhira Municipality officials to quickly arrange a permanent repair of the road on both sides of Raichpur Bridge.
According to local residents, people from roughly 20 to 30 surrounding villages regularly travel over Raichpur Bridge. Since the area depends on agriculture and fish farming, the road is also important for transporting agricultural produce, fish and other goods. Because of the road’s poor condition, traders, farmers and ordinary residents face constant hardship.
Those present during the volunteer repair work included Ward No. 7 ameer Hafez Maulana Nurul Haque, ward secretary Maulana Abdur Rahim, local volunteer Hasanuzzaman Sabuj, and other notable local figures and youth wing members.
Residents have called for urgent intervention from the district administration and municipal authorities to permanently repair the road on both sides of Raichpur Bridge.