A key road project in Pirojpur has remained unfinished for nearly three years, causing severe hardship for thousands of commuters using the Indurhat–Jilbari road.
The five-kilometre road in Nesarabad Upazila serves as a major link between Nesarabad and Nazirpur, but large sections have become unusable due to prolonged construction delays. Residents said the condition has forced them to take longer alternative routes, increasing both travel time and costs.
According to local sources, a contractor firm, Ifti ETCL, was awarded the contract nearly three years ago to construct two kilometres of the road along with several culverts at a cost of Tk2.75 crore.
The project was scheduled for completion by April 2024, but only around 40 per cent of the work has been completed so far, with construction halted for more than two years.
“Thousands of people have been suffering for years as the road remains incomplete,” said local resident Sulaiman Sheikh.
“The road is one of the main connections between Nazirpur and Nesarabad, but it has become almost unusable. People are facing financial losses and wasting time by using alternative routes,” he added.
Another resident, Sanjoy Karmakar, said the road condition has deteriorated so badly that local auto-rickshaw drivers have repeatedly collected money to carry out temporary repairs.
“The road gets damaged again within days, and parts of it are collapsing due to the adjacent canal. Transporting patients to hospitals has become extremely difficult,” he said.
Locals said they have been maintaining sections of the road themselves to keep it minimally usable and demanded immediate completion of the stalled work along with reconstruction of damaged parts.
The delay has also created uncertainty over other projects implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in the district, as the contractor’s activities have reportedly stalled following political developments.
Officials at the district and upazila levels of LGED declined to comment on the issue.
Pirojpur Deputy Commissioner Abu Sayied said several rural infrastructure projects had remained incomplete despite tender approvals, alleging that contractors had withdrawn funds through irregularities.
“The matter has been reported to higher authorities, and steps will be taken once directives are received,” he said.
Local sources also alleged that the contractor firm secured multiple work orders under different licences but failed to complete most of the projects, raising concerns over large-scale irregularities in public works.
