DIPANKAR ROY, Khulna

For more than a decade, Shipyard Road stretching from Khulna’s Rupsha Traffic Intersection to Khan Jahan Ali (Rupsha) Bridge has been a nightmare for commuters, businesses and students. What was once a bustling artery of trade and transport has turned into a pothole-ridden stretch.

Though reconstruction began three years ago, slow progress has only worsened the misery. The uneven surface, littered with giant potholes, turns into muddy pits during monsoon rains. Vehicles frequently break down or overturn, while pedestrians struggle through waterlogged sections.

“It feels like this road has been abandoned by the authorities. One pothole is repaired, but ten more appear,” said Amiya Kanti Pal, a teacher at Rupsha High School.

The four-kilometre-long road is lined with 10 educational institutions, timber yards and what used to be 27 rice mills. But businesses are now in decline.

Enamul Kabir, president of the Laban Chara Market Traders Association, said, “It is almost impossible to transport goods here. Buyers no longer come. Once, Bandabazar saw sales worth Tk 50 crore annually. Today, it is not even Tk 1 crore.”

The rice milling industry has been hit hardest. Out of 27 mills, 21 have shut down. “Just last week, one of my trucks broke down on this road. Our production has dropped by 25 percent. Losses cross Tk 100 crore every year,” said Kazi Abdus Sobhan, president of the Khulna District Rice Mill Owners Association.

Residents and traders say they have held more than 20 demonstrations in the past decade, but little has changed. A rickshaw-puller near the Rupsha Bridge said, “Every ride costs me. The wheels get stuck, the chain breaks, the passengers shout at me. I can barely survive.”

Originally under Khulna City Corporation’s jurisdiction, the road was transferred to Khulna Development Authority (KDA) in 2013, when a Tk 98.9 crore project was approved to expand it into four lanes. Work did not begin until January 2022, nine years later. By June 2024, less than half the work was complete.

The project has since been revised, raising costs to Tk 259 crore.

Asked, project director Arman Hossain claimed, “Seventy percent of the work is done, and we are working to finish the rest quickly.”