One-hour ‘deadlock’: Sylhet residents protest over poor road, rail and air connectivity

Sylhet city came to a near standstill for an hour today (12 October) as residents observed a symbolic protest against prolonged suffering in road, rail, and air communications.

From 11am to 12pm, most shops and shopping malls across the city remained closed, and vehicular movement was limited. The shutdown was part of a programme titled "One-Hour Deadlock" called by former Sylhet City Corporation mayor and BNP chairperson's adviser, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, demanding urgent improvements in the Sylhet-Dhaka highway and other transport sectors.

During the programme, a protest rally was held at Court Point in the city, where leaders set a 15-day deadline for the government to meet their demands.

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Speaking at the rally, Ariful said, "I have repeatedly said this is no longer the time to remain silent. The long-standing neglect of the Sylhet-Dhaka highway, rail, and air routes has held the people of Sylhet hostage.

We want to see our demands met within the next 15 days."

A visit to various city areas this morning found most shopping malls shuttered and stores locked.

Except for a few rickshaws, nearly all vehicular movement had stopped.

Activities gradually resumed after noon, with shops reopening and traffic returning to normal.

The rally outlined eight key demands, including expediting completion of the Sylhet-Dhaka highway repair work; introducing new trains and coaches on the Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Chattogram routes; ending black-market ticket sales; bringing airfares on the Sylhet-Dhaka route to a reasonable level; and rapid improvement and sustainable planning of Sylhet's internal road network.

Meanwhile, Sylhet district BNP President Abdul Qayum Chowdhury announced another programme for tomorrow at 12pm - a "mass sit-in and human chain" at Humayun Rashid Chattar in Dakshin Surma - to press for speedy completion of the Sylhet-Dhaka highway project.

Sylhet residents have long suffered due to poor transport infrastructure and the six-lane expansion of the Sylhet-Dhaka highway remains stalled over land acquisition complications, causing frequent traffic jams on the dilapidated route, said locals.

Additionally, outdated railway lines, insufficient trains and tickets, and high airfares have compounded travel woes for people in the Sylhet region.

References

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