Protesters block Dhaka’s Shahbagh to demand Barishal-Bhola Bridge

Dhaka residents hailing from the Bhola District have blocked the capital’s Shahbagh intersection to demand the construction of a bridge linking Barishal and Bhola.

They took up positions at the intersection around 3:45pm on Friday, bringing traffic to a standstill, according to Shahbagh Police Station chief Md Khalid Mansur.

As of 4:45pm, they were still occupying the road.

“We are trying to convince them to clear the road. Additional police personnel have been deployed to handle the situation,” said Khalilur.

Bhola residents have been holding various programmes in Dhaka and Bhola for quite some time to demand the construction of a Barishal-Bhola bridge.

As a continuation of those protests, several hundred people with banners and festoons took up positions at Shahbagh and blocked the road on Friday afternoon.

The called for the construction of the bridge, the establishment of a public university in Bhola, and the setting up of gas connections in the district.

On Nov 14, a group of students blocked a convoy carrying three advisors to the interim government during their visit to Bhola. They did so by lying down in front of the vehicles near the local deputy commissioner’s office.

The protesters, under the banner of “Amra-Bholabasi” (We Are Bhola Residents) organisation blocked Power and Energy Advisor Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Industry Advisor Adilur Rahman Khan, and Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin for at least 20 minutes that day.

At the time, the protesters said they had recently met Sheikh Moinuddin, special assistant to the chief advisor, and Power Advisor Fouzul regarding their five-point list of demands, which they had pushed for in Bhola for a long time.

The meeting had concluded with an announcement that the construction of the Bhola-Barishal bridge would begin in December.

But on Nov 14, Advisor Fouzul said that the design work on the bridge project had yet to start and was still stuck at the policy division level. The announcement angered protesters and prompted the blocking of the convoy.

That same day, 17 students who participated in the Long March from Bhola to Dhaka’s Setu Bhaban swam across the Tentulia River and reached Barishal. One of them fell ill during the long swim.

The five points the protesters are pushing for are: visible progress in the construction of the Bhola-Barishal bridge, gas connections to every house in Bhola through pipelines, the establishment of gas-based industries and factories, the establishment of a public university and the construction of sustainable embankments.