Road Shoulder of Baneshwar - Ishwardi Highway Occupied

Md. Sohel Rana, Rajshahi Correspondent The road shoulder of the Baneshwar-Ishwardi highway has been occupied with heavy timber piles of sawmills and cultivation of crops; vehicular movement at extreme risk. The road shoulder or the 'shoulder' of the road on both sides of the main part of the highway is not just a matter of beautification; it is a very important technical part for parking vehicles in a safe place in case of emergency, removing accident-hit vehicles and ensuring overall safety of travel. Its role is also undeniable in maintaining the durability of the road. However, that shoulder of the important Baneshwar-Ishwardi regional highway in Rajshahi has been freely occupied for illegal sawmill business and commercial crop cultivation. In some places, turmeric, ginger, banana and papaya, and in other places, artificial bushes have been created by cultivating Napier grass that exceeds human height. Besides, heavy logs are being piled up on both sides. As a result, in addition to the loss of opportunity to take vehicles to a safe distance in an emergency, drivers' visibility is being obstructed at bends, which is constantly causing fatal accidents. Even in the dark of night, these bushes have become a safe cover and the snatching gang has become active. This 54-kilometer road, which is one of the most important roads for communication between the southern region and Rajshahi with the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, was started to be upgraded to a regional highway in 2020. With a main cost of about 554 crore taka and later an additional allocation of about 100 crore taka for land acquisition and other infrastructure, its construction was completed in early 2024. Although thousands of vehicles including heavy vehicles ply this route every day, within just two years of opening the road, the government road shoulder worth crores of taka has been occupied by locals. According to official statistics of Charghat and Bagha Upazila Health Complexes, 4,249 people have been treated after being injured in road accidents in the last one year on about 38 kilometers under Charghat and Bagha Upazilas of the highway. At least 28 people have lost their lives in these two upazilas during the same period. According to locals, due to lack of space on the shoulder, collisions with vehicles coming from the opposite direction are regularly occurring because wood or goods are being loaded and unloaded by parking vehicles on the main road. On June 27 at around 8 pm, a teenager named Rafiul Ehsan (15) died on the spot after hitting a timber-laden trolley standing on the road in the Raotha Nurul Bottala area while returning home from Bagha in an auto-rickshaw. Earlier, on November 7, in the Shibpur area, three friends named Tuhin Ali (25), Maruf Ali (18) and Shimul Ali (25), who were riding a motorcycle, lost their lives in a head-on collision with an ambulance coming from the opposite direction while crossing a goods-laden truck standing on the road. In this regard, truck driver Maksed Ali and teacher Fazlur Rahman of Mirganj area of Bagha said that as a lot of mangoes and agricultural products are produced in the Charghat-Bagha region, goods have to be loaded and unloaded in hundreds of trucks. As the shoulder is occupied, the trucks stand directly on the main road, causing constant chaos and accidents on this busy two-lane road. In addition to terrible accidents, the dense bushes on both sides of the road are now a permanent terror for local passengers and traders. At night, snatchers suddenly come out from behind Napier grass forests and banana gardens with local weapons, blocking vehicles and looting everything. Garment trader Manik Islam of Shalua village said that around 11:30 pm, while going to Baneshwar from Pabna with goods, three snatchers came out from inside Napier grass at Charghat Fire Service intersection and blocked his way and snatched goods worth several lakhs of taka. In addition, first-class contractor Abdul Awal was hit on his motorcycle in the Taltala area and thrown into the grass and banana garden beside the road and robbed of all his belongings. Local businessman Shamim Islam also said that he has been a victim of such snatching attempts multiple times. A field investigation has found that at least 21 wood sawing sawmills have been built along the highway in the Charghat and Bagha Upazila sections. Most of these establishments are without clearance from the concerned authorities and they are occupying the government shoulder and the edge of the main road and piling up heavy timber. For loading and unloading wood, large trucks are parked directly on the main road for hours, which greatly constricts traffic on this two-lane highway. However, in this regard, the owner of Twister Furniture and Saw Mill, Tariq Hossain, and the owner of Zakaria Saw Mill, Zakaria, said that it was not right to keep wood on the shoulder of the highway and although they were not aware of the notice from the forest department, they would quickly remove the wood on their own responsibility. Jahangir Hossain, president of the Charghat Upazila Teachers Committee and headmaster of Halidagachi Girls High School, said that shoulder occupation on a busy two-lane highway is a major threat to road safety; it reduces the driver's visibility and leaves no alternative place to swerve in an emergency. Charghat Upazila Forest Officer Mahbubur Rahman said that although sawmill owners have been evicted after multiple notices and drives, later they occupy the shoulder again; coordinated action will be taken against them soon. Many like farmer Abdul Hannan of Naodara area claim that they have cultivated papaya and grass because there is vacant space beside the road and there is no infestation of cattle, but the administration has never prohibited it. Saiful Islam, president of the Charghat Upazila branch of the Nirapad Sarak Andolan, said that allowing cultivation or business opportunities without ensuring safety on a highway built at a cost of hundreds of crores of taka is an extreme threat to public life. Officials in charge of law and order and road protection administration are also acknowledging the severity of the problem. Mahabubur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Charghat Model Police Station, said that if both sides of the road remain open, it is easier for the police to ensure security and conduct patrols, but due to bushes, it becomes difficult to identify the location of criminals. The matter has been informed to the Roads Department. On the other hand, Abdul Mannaf Akand, Sub-Divisional Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) Rajshahi, said that they have noticed the issue of increased accidents due to cultivation and creation of bushes by occupying the road shoulder of the Baneshwar-Ishwardi road. The occupiers are being given a final deadline to remove these on their own responsibility without delay; if the obstacles are not removed within the specified time, the entire road shoulder will be cleared by conducting a strict eviction drive according to government law.