Mountain Representative: Steep and smooth path on the rugged mountain side. As the winding road in the green is beautiful, it has changed the mountain life.
In the last decade, there has been a great change in road communication in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. As a result of the construction of scenic roads and bridges in the mountains, the communication system has improved, and the tourism and agriculture sectors have also changed a lot.
Rangamati Road Department said that the construction of designated roads and road management are the main tasks of the department. There are about 235 kilometers of national and regional roads under various upazilas of Rangamati Hill District, Dhaka, Chittagong, and various upazilas of Hill District.
According to district road department sources, a 500-meter-long bridge has been constructed on the Chengi River in Naniarchar at 10 km of the Bagachari-Naniarchar-Longadu road in Naniarchar upazila of Rangamati. This bridge has been renamed the Chunilal Dewan Bridge. The total cost of the bridge is Tk 227 crore (61 lakh).
After 60 years, the construction of this bridge in Naniarchar will improve the communication system in the area and will facilitate the purchase and sale of agricultural products. This will benefit the farmers of Nanyarchar.
Through this bridge, one can reach Saje in Baghaichari through Longadu in Rangamati and Dighinala in Khagrachari in a short time. By now, the bridge has become popular with travelers. Apart from Rangamati district, tourists from different districts flock to see the beautiful view of the side of the bridge every day. The construction of the bridge started on November 16, 2017.
Meanwhile, expenditure on the District Road Development Project (Chittagong Zone) is Rs. 1624.99 crore. Bagachari Naniarchar Longdu Road Sub-Project, Bagachari-Naniarchar Longdu Road in Naniarchar. The total expenditure was Rs. 374.78 crore.
6 road construction and development projects in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region under the Directorate of Roads and Public Ways. Which was implemented by 20 ECBs of the Bangladesh Army. 3891.55 crores have been spent on the Chittagong-Rangamati road development project. Rangamati Ghagra-Chandraghona Bangalhalia-Bandarban road (Rangamati section) has been spent for the development of Tk 3018.04 crores. 1858.50 crore has been spent on the Rajasthan-Bengalhalia road in Rangamati.
According to Rangamati Roads and Public Roads Directorate, under the Periodic Maintenance Program (PMP), the works on the roads in Rangamati have been completed. They are: Ghagra-Chandraghona Bangalhalia-Bandarban Regional Highway (40.974 meters) PC girder (Ghagra Bridge) bridge construction has been completed. 7.46 crore has been spent on it. The work on this bridge was completed in the fiscal year 2022-2023.
A 22.68-meter Tabalchhari bridge has been constructed at a cost of Tk 2.92 crore on the 2nd kilometer of the old Shaheed Minar tourist road in Rangamati city. Its work was completed in the financial year 2016–2017. Bitumen surfacing work was completed on 26 km of the Chittagong-Rangamati National Highway at a cost of Tk 20.35 crore. This road work was done in Rangamati Sadar and Kaukhali upazilas in the fiscal year 2018–2019.
Bituminous surfacing work was done on the 23-kilometer Ghagra-Chandraghona-Bengalhalia-Bandarban regional highway at a cost of Tk 17.47 crore. Road work was completed in Kaptai and Kaukhali upazilas of Rangamati in the financial year 2018–2019.
The work of bitumen surfacing was completed on the Rangamati-Manikachari-Mahalchari-Khagrachari regional highway of 18 km at a cost of Tk 9.88 crore. In the financial year 2019-20, the work on Mahalchari Upazila Road in Rangamati Sadar, Naniarchar, and Khagrachari districts was carried out.
In fiscal year 2021-2022, bitumen surfacing work was completed on 10.59 km of Chittagong-Rangamati National Highway at a cost of Tk 13.45 crore. Apart from this, the Rangamati Road Department is running a project of a 5470-meter permanent protective RCC retaining wall on six roads affected by landslides in 2017 at a cost of Tk 287 crore.
Meanwhile, the work of the Bangladesh Army in the three hill districts of the ‘Border Road Construction Project (Rangamati-Khagrachari and Bandarban Hill Districts)—Phase 1 project is going on. Under this project, 130 km of border road construction is underway in 4 upazilas of Rangamati (Rajasthali, Bilaichhari, Jurachhari, and Barkal).
It is known that the Prime Minister has taken the initiative to build this border road to strengthen the security of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and to build an economic zone.
According to the Rangamati Road Department, there were a total of 21 Bailey Bridges in the hill district. Out of this, four bridges have been constructed. There are seven bridges under construction. There are currently 10 more Bailey Bridges still existing in Rangamati.
Rangamati-Chittagong road bus driver. Yuchup said that 10 years ago, Rangamati Chittagong Road was very small. Driving on this road was very difficult and time-consuming.
Robert Tripura, chairman of Rajasthan’s Ghilachari Union Parishad, said that due to the border road, the people of remote areas are currently able to bring and sell various products from remote areas to Rajasthan headquarters. Not only Rajasthani upazila but Jurachhari and Bilaichhari upazila will also benefit from this road. In the future, this road will play an important role in tourism.
Chittagong-Rangamati Motor Owners Association Rangamati Region President Md. Shahiduzzaman Mohsin Roman said that in the progress of 15 years of development under the present government, there has been considerable development in the roads of various upazilas in Rangamati Hill district.
Sabuj Chakma, Executive Engineer of the Rangamati Roads and Highways Department, said that the development activities being conducted by the Directorate of Roads and Highways for the construction of safe, contemporary, and sustainable highways are a very timely step. The initiatives taken by the government for the development of the communication system are playing a major role in the economic and social development of the people.
