Thousands suffer as bypass road remains submerged in Jashore

Thousands of families in ten villages of Jessore's Keshabpur Upazila have to travel extra kilometres to reach their destinations in the Keshabpur and Monirampur upazilas as floods left part of a bypass road submerged and approach roads of a bridge on the route damaged.

Vehicular movement completely stopped on the Keshabpur-Ramchandrapur bypass road and the Tk 37 million bridge, which was built over the Harihar River in 2023.

The construction of the road and the bridge aimed at reducing traffic congestion on the Jashore-Satkhira Highway. The beneficiaries of the project included residents of Madhyakul, Habaspur, Baliadanga and Brahmakathi villages under Keshabpur municipality; Ramchandrapur, Belkati, and Byasdanga under

the Sadar union, and Nagarghop, Mujguni and Badbilash under Monirampur Upazila.

Locals alleged the dredging of canals and rivers without planning is one of the reasons behind the worsening flood situation for over the past 15 years. They also said that over a hundred villages in Keshabpur upazila, including three of nine wards under the municipality, remain waterlogged for up to six months each year. The stagnant water has damaged roads, schools and public infrastructure.

Currently, locals have been farming fish and ducks on the mostly submerged Keshabpur-Ramchandrapur bypass road. Residents have called upon the authorities to immediately elevate and rebuild the road.

Shahin Dafadar and Abdus Sobahan, residents of Madhyakul village in Ward 7 of Keshabpur municipality, said that the Keshabpur-Ramchandrapur road has been unfit for movement for nearly a decade. The urged the authorities to repair and elevate the road.

Md Nazimul Haque, upazila engineer, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), said, "The bypass and the bridge over the Harihar River were constructed to ease traffic in Keshabpur town. The bridge was completed in 2023 at a cost of Tk 3.78 crore."

Stating that locals were unable to receive any benefits from the bridge as the road have been remaining submerged, he added that a proposal to elevate the road was included in the Jashore development project proposal (DPP). "But, approval has not yet been granted."

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