A culvert built four months ago in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila remains virtually unusable as approach roads on both sides are yet to be constructed, forcing around 1,500 people from five villages to wade through knee- to waist-deep water every day.
The 5-metre-long RCC box culvert was constructed at Kakar Beel in Raripara union along the Madhyam Teligati-Malmogacha-Brahmankathi-Kakar Beel road under a project implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), said Mohammad Manzur Rashid, Executive Engineer, LGED, Bagerhat.
According to LGED, the culvert was built at chainage 3,149 metres under the 2025-26 fiscal year project at a cost of Tk28.29 lakh.
But four months after construction, the approach roads on both sides remain unfinished. While some sand has been dumped on one side, the other remains submerged, leaving people with no proper way to access the culvert.
The road connects Kakar Bill, Kharasambal, Chuchramari, Malmogacha, Dhuligati and Bailtali villages and surrounding areas. Around 1,000 to 1,500 people use it daily. A primary school and a mosque are also located nearby.
Schoolchildren, teachers, women and elderly residents are bearing the brunt of the situation.
Third-grader Tanha said she has to cross the water every day to attend school.
“Although the culvert has been built, we cannot get onto it. We have to cross the canal. My mother takes me to school and brings me back every day,” she said.
Another third-grader, Toba, said: “We cannot cross the canal. It is very difficult. We get wet both on the way to school and on the way back. We want a solution soon.”
Local resident Sabina Akter said both her children attend school, forcing her to make four trips through the water every day.
“I take one child to school at 9am and the other at noon. A few days ago, I fell here and my child’s books got soaked in the water. We want the road and the approaches to the culvert repaired as soon as possible,” she said.
Resident Zakir Hossain said the culvert is a key route for people from five villages, including those travelling to the local market.
“It has been about four months since the culvert was built. We have repeatedly asked the contractor to complete the work, but nothing has happened. There should have been an alternative route during construction, but the contractor did not arrange one,” he said.
Locals were eventually forced to create a temporary path through a nearby homestead, he said.
“Teachers, students and everyone else are now using that path. Sometimes the water rises to waist level,” Zakir said.
Residents said the lack of an alternative route during construction has compounded their suffering, while the monsoon has made the situation worse.
They demanded immediate construction of the approach roads by filling both sides with soil and sand to ensure safe passage.
Contractor Md Jalal Khan said work had been delayed as he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dhaka.
“I will return to Bagerhat soon and complete the work. Road construction has already resumed. Once the roadwork is finished, soil will be added to raise the road,” he said.
He also said a temporary bamboo bridge would be built within a few days for villagers and students, after which soil would be brought in to raise both sides of the culvert.