Kumari area is a remote hamlet of Tintohari Union in Manikchhari Upazila, Khagrachari. The winding roads of this village, surrounded by high and low hills, open fields and green fields, captivate as well as tell stories of disappointment and sorrow every day.
About 250-300 people from more than a hundred families travel every day on the 3-kilometer unpaved road from the area adjacent to Kumari Government Primary School to Sailachar Buddhist Vihara. But due to lack of renovation for a long time, the unpaved road has now become impassable. Especially during the rainy season, walking on this road becomes difficult.
On going to the spot, it was seen that one-third of this three-kilometer unpaved road has become impassable due to holes and potholes. In this agriculturally dependent town, the locals have to face extreme hardships in transporting and marketing agricultural products and fruits, commuting school and college students, or taking dying patients to and from the hospital.
The locals of Sailachar said, 'For ages, the people here have been suffering like this during the monsoon season. It is as if no one is watching! Not a drop of development has ever fallen on this road.' At this time, the locals demanded that this road be repaired immediately.
Student Ushapru Marma said, 'More than fifty primary school students from Sailachar Para area and 12-15 of us secondary school students regularly walk to school on this dirt road. It is very difficult to travel during the monsoon season. Clothes and shoes get ruined in the mud.'
Usamong Marma, a resident of Karbari, a local, lamented, 'Not a single child can go to school properly for six months during the monsoon. When people are sick, they have to carry them on their shoulders to the main road like in ancient times. We want to get rid of this curse.
Local UP member Kanchairi Marma said, "Although proposals have been sent several times through the Union Parishad and LGED to repair this road, no results have been achieved."
Manikchhari Upazila Project Implementation Officer (PIO) Kazi Masudur Rahman said, "We have inspected this road and this road will be repaired as soon as possible, subject to allocation."
