Md. Hamidur Rahman Limon, Crime Reporter:
The roads of Thakurgaon Municipality have now become the biggest source of suffering for the citizens. Due to lack of renovation for a long time, most of the roads in the city, starting from the main roads to the side streets, are filled with potholes. Even with a little rain, there is waterlogging in some places, and in others, the roads become impassable due to mud and water. Office-going people, students, rickshaw pullers and ordinary pedestrians have suffered due to this.
It has been seen on the ground that there are 135 kilometers of roads in the municipality. Of these, 85 kilometers are paved roads. However, 80 percent of them are now in poor condition. From Satyapir Bridge in Thakurgaon district headquarters to the intersection, Barunagaon, Goalpara, Hajipara, Swarnakarpatti to the Pharabari bus stand, and other important roads in the city, broken roads and potholes are visible just by walking a little. The asphalt has come off in some places, and the bricks have come out again in others. Even after a little rain, water accumulates in these potholes, making the traffic situation even more miserable. Mostaq Ahmed, a resident of the municipality, said, "It has become difficult to move around the city roads. It has become normal to fall and get hurt if you are a little careless."
College student Mahmuda Khatun said, "We travel on this road every day. We have to face difficulties both during the rainy season with mud and during the dry season with dust. The roads need to be repaired urgently."
Rickshaw puller Islam said, "It is very difficult to drive a rickshaw on this road. It means that the car breaks down every day. Every day, passengers have to drive the rickshaw at their own risk." Office-going employee Sadek Hossain said, "The road condition is so bad that it is difficult to drive a car. Let alone travel by rickshaw, even a motorcycle cannot travel on this road."
A municipality official claims that it has not been possible to repair the roads so far due to financial crisis. However, this time a project worth Tk 360 crore has been taken up with the funding of the World Bank, of which work worth Tk 37 crore will start this month. Thakurgaon Municipality Administrator and Additional District Magistrate Sardar Mustafa Shahin said, "We will start some important road work soon. The project has already been taken up. I hope that once the work is completed, the suffering of the people will be reduced to a great extent." Promises have been made many times, but it remains to be seen how much of it will be implemented in reality. The only demand of the municipality is that the roads should be repaired as soon as possible. Development should not be limited to paper but should also be visible in reality.
