The 80-kilometre road from Cox's Bazar to Teknaf, known as Marine Drive, the longest of its kind in the world, has been experiencing breakages due to rough weather.
Lined with the world's longest sea beach on one side and mountains enveloped in greenery on the other, this scenic route is now under threat.
The sea's waves have started to cause breakages in this road with severe damage at 10 places, and if repairs are not made promptly, communication through this road could be cut off.
By Thursday morning, almost 60 metres of the road in Teknaf's western Munda's Deil area had collapsed into the sea under the force of the waves.
Additionally, over the last two days, the road has crumbled in another 10 places in Baharchara, Hadurchara and South Munda's Deil areas.
Locals say the sea's rising water level, due to stormy weather, has weakened the road's protective geo-bags, with the sea slowly swallowing the road.
Many have taken sand from the sea near the road and filled their lands, causing the road to break when the water rises, locals added.
Rezaul Karim, a resident of Munda's Deil area, said Marine Drive has never collapsed like this before.
“The height of the sea's waves has increased, and large waves are crashing into the side of the road. Geo-bags have been swept into the sea by the waves, leading to continuous breaking," he said.
Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamruzzaman said the sea's water level is currently much higher than normal due to stormy weather and that the sea's waves have caused breakages in several parts of the Marine Drive road.
The army will begin work to prevent further damage, he added.
Mohammad Salim, a local union parishad member, said there have been breakages in at least 10 places on the road.
“Compared to previous years, this time the damage is more extensive. I have learned that work to prevent further damage has already begun,” he said.
According to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the construction of Marine Drive began in 1993.
By 2015, almost 24 kilometres of road had been built, from Kolatoli in Cox's Bazar to Inani Beach in Ukhiya upazila.
In mid-2016, another 24 kilometres of road were built from Inani to Teknaf's Shilkhali, and in 2017 32 kilometres were constructed from Shilkhali to Teknaf's Sabrang.
The total cost of constructing the entire road was around Tk1,040 crore.
Even though the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) is responsible for the maintenance of Marine Drive, the engineering corps of the army supervised and maintained the construction of the road.
