S A Shofiee , Sylhet :
People going to visit Tanguar haor first come to Sunamganj town. Then they take an auto-rickshaw or motorcycle to Tahirpur Upazila, which is 35-km away but now-a-days the travel would not be as easy as before the road has been devastated.
Following the recent spate of floods and heavy rains, the roads of the three districts of Sylhet division have been badly damaged.
The worst affected of them all is Sunamganj, the land of haors. At least three places of the road from the district headquarters to Tahirpur were either washed away or damaged. An alternative road via Sachna bazar was also badly hit – around a 100-metre section was washed away due to the onrush of floodwater, halting vehicular traffic.
Many roads have become unfit for use now, said Munem Mia, an auto-rickshaw driver in Tahirpur. Accidents may happen anytime due to the damaged parts.
A resident of Tahirpur, Burhan Uddin, said, Many parts of the road and bricks were washed away with floodwater. The earth was also gone.
He said a complete picture would come when the floodwater receded. However, people have to suffer a lot if the damaged parts are not repaired immediately.
Before Anwarpur bazar, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has started rebuilding a portion, which was washed away altogether.
During a recent visit, workers were seen dumping sand, sandbags and shoring up the two sides with bamboo to make the road fit for use by vehicles.
However, motorcycles have started plying the road on a small scale, said locals.
Talking about the condition of the Sunamganj-Tahirpur road, motorcyclist Shoyeb Mia said the devastation was causing immense sufferings to passengers and drivers. It is also very risky to drive over the broken parts.
Executive Engineer of RHD in Sunamganj Shafiqul Islam said, We are working to reconnect all the broken roads and fixing the damaged parts to make the roads usable before upcoming Eid.
Commenting about the ravaged roads, he said, Some roads need bigger projects for reconstruction. We are working on a few of the roads and have plans to initiate a tender process for the rest.
According to surveys by the local administrations, recent flood and rains have damaged more than 1,000km of roads across Sylhet division – 425-km in Sunamganj, 327.19km in Moulvibazar, and 306.19km in Sylhet district.
They also give a few figures of the estimated damage but the total amount would be available after the floodwater fully recedes.
Citing the estimated damage at Tk 20 crore, Executive Engineer of RHD in Sunamganj Shafiqul Islam said, We have asked for funds.
Kamrul Islam, executive engineer of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Moulivibazar, said, Around 186km of roads were damaged, and the loss was calculated to be Tk 34.51 crore.
On the other hand, the Moulvibazar RHD suffered a loss of Tk 66.71 crore due to 141.13km of damaged roads.
While RHD manages the national highways, LGED takes care of the rest of the roads.
According to local administrations, after the flood and extreme rains, the ravaged roads have put the residents of at least 800 villages in the three districts in serious trouble. Their daily life as well as business is being hampered.
In Moulvibazar, five of the seven upazilas were badly affected.
Kishor Roy Chowdhury Moni, vice-chairman of the districts Juri upazila, said flood had damaged most of the roads, and made them risky. At some places, the broken part became a few feet deep. In some areas, the mud roads were completely gone.
ASM Mohsin, executive engineer of LGED, Sylhet, said Beanibazar was the worst hit among of the eight affected upazilas of the district due to flood. Extreme rainfall also caused devastation.
He said the initial repair work would start soon. The amount of money needed for repairing the roads, however, was yet to be determined.
People going to visit Tanguar haor first come to Sunamganj town. Then they take an auto-rickshaw or motorcycle to Tahirpur Upazila, which is 35-km away but now-a-days the travel would not be as easy as before the road has been devastated.
Following the recent spate of floods and heavy rains, the roads of the three districts of Sylhet division have been badly damaged.
The worst affected of them all is Sunamganj, the land of haors. At least three places of the road from the district headquarters to Tahirpur were either washed away or damaged. An alternative road via Sachna bazar was also badly hit – around a 100-metre section was washed away due to the onrush of floodwater, halting vehicular traffic.
Many roads have become unfit for use now, said Munem Mia, an auto-rickshaw driver in Tahirpur. Accidents may happen anytime due to the damaged parts.
A resident of Tahirpur, Burhan Uddin, said, Many parts of the road and bricks were washed away with floodwater. The earth was also gone.
He said a complete picture would come when the floodwater receded. However, people have to suffer a lot if the damaged parts are not repaired immediately.
Before Anwarpur bazar, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has started rebuilding a portion, which was washed away altogether.
During a recent visit, workers were seen dumping sand, sandbags and shoring up the two sides with bamboo to make the road fit for use by vehicles.
However, motorcycles have started plying the road on a small scale, said locals.
Talking about the condition of the Sunamganj-Tahirpur road, motorcyclist Shoyeb Mia said the devastation was causing immense sufferings to passengers and drivers. It is also very risky to drive over the broken parts.
Executive Engineer of RHD in Sunamganj Shafiqul Islam said, We are working to reconnect all the broken roads and fixing the damaged parts to make the roads usable before upcoming Eid.
Commenting about the ravaged roads, he said, Some roads need bigger projects for reconstruction. We are working on a few of the roads and have plans to initiate a tender process for the rest.
According to surveys by the local administrations, recent flood and rains have damaged more than 1,000km of roads across Sylhet division – 425-km in Sunamganj, 327.19km in Moulvibazar, and 306.19km in Sylhet district.
They also give a few figures of the estimated damage but the total amount would be available after the floodwater fully recedes.
Citing the estimated damage at Tk 20 crore, Executive Engineer of RHD in Sunamganj Shafiqul Islam said, We have asked for funds.
Kamrul Islam, executive engineer of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Moulivibazar, said, Around 186km of roads were damaged, and the loss was calculated to be Tk 34.51 crore.
On the other hand, the Moulvibazar RHD suffered a loss of Tk 66.71 crore due to 141.13km of damaged roads.
While RHD manages the national highways, LGED takes care of the rest of the roads.
According to local administrations, after the flood and extreme rains, the ravaged roads have put the residents of at least 800 villages in the three districts in serious trouble. Their daily life as well as business is being hampered.
In Moulvibazar, five of the seven upazilas were badly affected.
Kishor Roy Chowdhury Moni, vice-chairman of the districts Juri upazila, said flood had damaged most of the roads, and made them risky. At some places, the broken part became a few feet deep. In some areas, the mud roads were completely gone.
ASM Mohsin, executive engineer of LGED, Sylhet, said Beanibazar was the worst hit among of the eight affected upazilas of the district due to flood. Extreme rainfall also caused devastation.
He said the initial repair work would start soon. The amount of money needed for repairing the roads, however, was yet to be determined.
