The one-and-a-half-kilometre Andarkilla-Chawkbazar road, one of the oldest and important thoroughfares in the port city, remained uncared for since the eviction drive by the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) began in February.

The street vendors and roadside shop owners have taken control of the evicted portions of the road again, making a mockery of the objective the CDA had behind the drive.

The road, interlacing some densely populated localities such as Andarkilla, Nawab Sirajuddoula Road, Dewan Bazar, Didar Market, Ghat Farhadbeg, Chandanpura, Chittagong College area, parts of Rahmatganj, Chawkbazar and Kapashgola, was quite good and smooth for vehicular movement even a year ago, despite its narrowness. There was hardly any crack, uneven patch or unwanted 'man-made' roadblock that may hinder smooth movement of vehicles.

But nowadays, this important road appears as a nightmare to both the commuters and pedestrians. With multiple cracks and frightening holes developing due to a massive eviction drive early last year, the road is now a living danger to them, let alone the untold sufferings of several hundreds of people of the localities.

The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) on February 12 last year in its four-day eviction drive along both sides of the road, bulldozed part or whole of over 1,000 structures hotels, dwelling houses, departmental stores or grocery shops, pharmacies, commercial buildings and apartments amid resistance from locals. The drive was launched with a view to expanding the road and making the vehicular movement smoother.

The locals could neither stop the CDA bulldozers nor succeed in convincing the officials concerned of the demolition squad even after producing "documents and court injunctions" in support of their establishments during the drive.

However, the people, including the aggrieved ones, had supported the eviction drive, considering its far-reaching effect and positive impact on the society in future.

CDA officials said the eviction was aimed at removing only the illegal structures and that's what they exactly did during the drives.

Yakub Sowdagar, a trader, was running a small hardware store (12'XW) at Telipatti Road at the northern most part of Chawk Bazar since 1985. After the eviction, he and his four-member family have been in financial hardship.

"On the first day, the demolition squad bulldozed a larger portion of my shop. I thought I could at

least make my living with the few square feet left. Yet my hopes were shattered when it demolished the remaining portion of the shop the following day,” Yakub said. He urged the authorities concerned to rehabilitate them.

The CDAdemolished a portion of a building of Abul Kalam that was built on a three-katha-land at Sirajuddoula Road, defacing the entire structure. Later, Kalam sold out the remaining two kathas of the land and left the area forever.

Mohammad Mohsin, owner of Concrete Traders near College Road, was quite happy during the drive believing that it would expand the road and eventually the pedestrians and commuters would benefit in future.

But he, too, is now frustrated seeing the dilapidated state of the road and the CDA inaction regarding its development and repair.

Mohammad Yunus alias Babul of Sharif Tea House at Chawk Bazar echoed the similar views and urged the CDA to live up to their objective regarding the development of the road.

Mainuddin Quadery Shawkat, president of Sirajuddoula Road Resident and Shop Protection Committee, alleged that the CDA violated its master plan and High Court rule during the drives.

Mentioning the importance of the road, Shawkat said the 250-year-old road was never earmarked for expansion neither in the 1962 Master Plan nor in the

revised 1995 Master Plan.

Besides, the evicted people have not got the compensation as per present market value, he said, adding that they have lodged a complaint with the AntiCorruption Commission (ACC) against the CDA in this connection.

CDAofficials, however, refuted the allegations of violating law, saying that the width of the road

came down to only 24 feet and was duly earmarked for an expansion to make it 60-foot wide in both the original and revised master plans.

Fazlul Karim, authorisation officer of CDA, said the development or repair work of the road couldn't be started due to fund constraints. The work will start soon as Asian Development Bank (ADB) has

approved a project two months ago in this regard and a tender has also been floated recently, he added.

"Work for developing a drainage system along both the sides of the road started last week and the people of the localities will benefit immensely after completion of the work," he said.