The government is spending about Tk 40 crore taka through 3 projects to renovate a 13-kilometre road from Gowainghat Upazila Sadar to Salutikar Bazar in Sylhet.

The Salutikar-Gowainghat Road is a very important road in Gowainghat Upazila of Sylhet. It is the only road for the residents of Nandirgaon, Toakul, Rustumpur, Bichnakandi, West Jaflong, Gowainghat Sadar, Lengura and Madhya Jaflong unions of Gowainghat Upazila.

The Salutikar-Gowainghat Road is the only means of communication by road between the residents of the 8 unions and the district headquarters. Along with the local residents, thousands of domestic and foreign tourists use this road to visit Bichnakandi and Pantumai, both popular tourist centres. 

But there have been various complaints against the contractor, "DCL & MDH (JV)" for the renovation of this important road, including allegations of "cutting the belly of the road" - filling the road with soil from its adjoining areas, potentially weakening them for further erosion and vulnerable to further flooding, instead of bringing the soil from elsewhere.

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Our correspondent visited the site with stakeholders on Monday (November 18) afternoon, to get a sense of the real picture of the road being filled with soil by what is being called cutting the stomach of the road.

While there, former members of Nandirgaon Union Parishad Aptab Ali, Nizam Uddin, and social worker Abdul Hasim Chowdhury told UNB that the most risky part of the Salutikar-Gowainghat road is the section from Dashgaon Mosque Bazar to Salutikar Bazar. 

This risky part of the road is submerged in flood water at least 10/12 times every year and the water flow is high in this part. Currently, the road being filled by ‘cutting the stomach of the road’ in the Damari Beel area, which will not be found when it rains. There is anger among pedestrians and local residents after seeing this happening.

UNB was able to photograph soil being excavated from the side of the road.

In this regard, Delwar Hossain, the owner of the contracting company DCL & MDH (JV), said: “There is no scope to cut the belly of the road and fill it with soil. I am looking into the matter seriously.”

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However, Deputy Assistant Engineer Ajmir Sharif, the officer in charge of the LGED for this road renovation work, said: “We have prohibited the contracting company from cutting the belly of the road and filling it with soil. But they are doing their job without listening to us.”

In this regard, Gowainghat Upazila Engineer Rafiqul Islam said, “We have prohibited cutting the belly of the road and filling it with soil.”

But when our correspondent called Sylhet District LGED Executive Engineer JM Farooq on his mobile on Monday evening to get a statement on this matter, he got angry and did not give any statement.

In this regard, Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Sher Mahbub Murad said: “There is no question of cutting the belly of the road and filling it with soil. Immediate action will be taken to keep the road safe and cut the soil.”