People of Paikpara village have been planting paddy on a dirt road to draw attention to their plight and to press home their protest against the authorities in Thakurgaon.
Students in the area arranged the protest on Friday.
According to locals, a mild rain turns the road muddy making it difficult to use. It is mostly students who are suffering due to the poor condition of the road.
Of the 2.5km at the Patua-Jamalpur road, 2km fall in Rahimanpur union and the rest is in Jamalpur union. As Paikpara straddles two unions, it gets less attention from the authority.
The heavily used dirt road needs proper concrete construction so that locals can commute freely.
Thakurgaon Govt College students, Masud, Jakir, and Saddam said: “We only see officials measuring the road with no real construction work in years. We have asked local authorities and representatives countless times to build a proper road but there are no visible results. So we protested by planting paddy on the mud-caked road.”
Jamalpur High School students Jibon, Shammi, Khelafot, and Rahman said: “Almost 500 students use the swampy road everyday at least 2 or 3 times a day. We usually go through back roads and village homes, avoiding the muddy road which makes our path lengthy and difficult.”
The headmaster of the school, Faruq Hossain said: “ Its not even monsoon yet and the condition of the road is indescribably poor. Students and other locals suffer greatly for this.”
Rahimanpur Union Parishad (UP) Chairman, Hannan Hannu said: “We regularly cover it with crushed bricks and clay, but it doesn’t last long and people face the same problems every day.”
Bangladesh Awami League Presidium Member and MP, Ramesh Chandra Sen, said: “On my initiative a plan has been sent to the administration. As soon as the plan gets sanctioned road construction will begin.”
