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Published : 27 Feb 2026, 06:24 PM
Traffic on the Shariatpur-Chandpur Highway, a vital link for 21 southern and south-western districts, has been suspended since Friday morning after two trucks broke down on a dilapidated stretch of road.
The disruption began around 8am when a sand-laden truck became disabled on a rundown culvert in Madhyapara.
While light vehicles initially used an under-construction diversion road, a second truck broke down there at 2pm, completely halting all movement.
The gridlock has left over 200 vehicles stranded on both sides of the highway, causing immense suffering for passengers and transport workers.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officers said a Tk 8.6 billion project to reconstruct the 35km road from Manohar Bazar to Ibrahimpur was approved in 2019.
While work on 6km and five bridges is complete, the remaining 29km and 35 bridges are stalled due to land acquisition complications, authorities said.
A bailey bridge installed in 2022 after the original culvert collapsed has also become precarious. RHD is currently building a diversion road, but that remains unfinished.
Sheikh Nabil Hossain, executive engineer of Shariatpur RHD, explained that tenders for repairs were cancelled thrice due to land issues.
"A new DPP with increased costs has been prepared. For now, we are managing with temporary repairs," he said.
He added that workers are unloading the trucks to clear the road as soon as possible.
"I’ve been waiting for nine hours with a truckload of fruit from Chattogram. I have no idea when I can leave," said Ramiz Uddin Ahmed, a trucker.
Passengers noted that while this route is a shortcut to Chattogram, frequent bridge failures have made it unreliable.
