Protesters block roads to demand 6-lane expansion for Ctg-Cox's Bazar Highway

Roads were blocked at Satkania’s Keranihat, Lohagara’s Amirabad and Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria Matamuhuri Bridge

Local protesters have taken to the streets to demand the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Highway be expanded to six lanes.

From 10am to noon on Sunday, they blocked roads in Satkania’s Keranihat, Lohagara’s Amirabad and Cox’s Bazar’s Chakaria Matamuhuri Bridge. The blockade caused traffic congestion on the highway.

The programme was held under the banner of the “Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Highway Development Movement” in Satkania, Lohagara and Chakaria.

Hossain Mohammad Masum, organiser of the group, told bdnews24.com that many people have lost their lives in accidents on the road and though calls have repeatedly been made for the important route to be widened, the government has not heeded them.

"The 'road blockade' schedule has been observed since Sunday morning at Keranihat in Satkania, Amirabad in Lohagara, and Chakaria Matamuhuri Bridge to demand six lanes [on the highway]."

The protest organiser said they were to hold their protest until 4pm, but the local administration contacted them, said they had spoken to a government advisor, and made assurances that initiatives will be taken to start work as on the project soon as possible.

He also said, "Our public leader Shahjahan Chowdhury also spoke to us. He asked us to give him 15 days. He said that he would also speak to the advisor. Because of this, we all cleared the roads around 12:30pm."

Witnesses said protesters took to the highway around 10am on Keranihat Road. They started shouting slogans demanding that the highway be expanded into six lanes. The protest blocked vehicles travelling in both directions. However, ambulances and emergency service vehicles were allowed through

The Satkania Upazila executive officer (UNO) and Army personnel arrived around 11am and pacified the protesters and removed them from the road, but another group then took their place around 10-15 minutes later, blocking the road and chanting slogans.

Then, Shahjahan Chowdhury, former MP of the Satkania-Lohagara constituency and Jamaat-e-Islami leader, called the protesters and urged them to lift the blockade. Shahjahan told them over the phone that he would hold a tender to widen the road within 15 days, and the protesters left the road around noon, witnesses said.

Sub-Inspector Ruhul Amin of the Highway Police’s Dohazari Police Station told bdnews24.com that people had protested by blocking Keranihat and Lohagara in Satkania to push for widening the road, but that they later cleared the area around noon. Traffic has now returned to normal, he said.