DWOHA CHOWDHURY

Five years since its launch, the Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Project has achieved a mere 15 percent of its objectives, leaving the 210-kilometre stretch in disrepair and turning millions’ journeys into ordeals.

Land disputes and delays in utility relocation have held up the Tk 16,919 crore project, according to its project director AK Mohammad Fazlul Karim. Meeting the December 2026 deadline is impossible now, he said.

While some soil development, bridge and culvert work has begun where land is available, most of the project remains stalled.

Since fiscal 2021-22, 56 of the 66 lawsuits related to land acquisition remain unresolved, preventing contractors from accessing key areas, according to the Roads and Highways Department.

The corridor project includes 66 bridges, 305 culverts and overpasses, six railway over-bridges, 37 U-turns, and 26 footbridges. It was divided into 13 packages, each assigned to a contractor.

But without land, the plan remains mostly on paper.

As a result, road travel on the route has become an ordeal.

“The suffering is indescribable,” said Nizam Uddin, a Sunamganj resident who commutes to Dhaka every month for work.

Even a few years ago, his trips would take six to seven hours. Now, the journey takes 12 to 13 hours.

Recent visits revealed the road riddled with deep potholes and large craters, making travel both slow and dangerous. Long gridlocks across various sections add to the physical and mental strain, turning each trip into a test of endurance.

“The condition is horrible,” said Mohammad Shahid, a driver with Al-Mobaraka Paribahan for 18 years.

Besides potholes, many stretches

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