Hill torrents damage road, cut off village at Nalitabari

NALITABARI, SHERPUR, June 18: A paved road in Batkuchi Village under Poragaon Union in Nalitabari Upazila has been severely damaged by hill torrents, leaving the village cut off from surrounding areas and causing immense suffering to thousands of residents.

Locals said the torrential flow of water from upstream hills, carried by the Chellakhali River, caused the road to collapse after days of heavy rainfall, disrupting connectivity with nearby markets and villages.

Batkuchi, located in the middle of Poragaon union, once served as a key passageway for residents travelling to the Union Parishad office and Baromari Bazar. However, the damaged road and disrupted river crossing have now left the village isolated.

The situation has worsened as residents are no longer able to access Baromari Bazar or transport agricultural produce such as paddy and vegetables for sale. What was once mainly a river-crossing difficulty has now turned into a combined crisis of river erosion and road collapse.

Locals said students from the village and surrounding areas are the worst affected. More than a hundred students from institutions including Palashikura Janata High School, Palashikura Government Primary School, Hossain Ali Girls’ High School and Begum Rowshan Ara Academy are unable to attend classes during periods of heavy rainfall or hill runoff. In such cases, they are forced to take a detour of nearly 5 km via Nanni or Burunga border road to reach their schools.

Residents said the problem has persisted for years, but worsened after a culvert collapsed during a flash flood in 2022. Since then, repeated erosion has widened the damage, eventually cutting off the road entirely.

Shamim Hossain, a local resident living beside the damaged road, said around 12�"15 families are facing severe hardship.

“We cannot even go out of our homes or bring in harvested crops,” he said.

He added that students are also suffering as they must take long detours to reach schools, while travel via the border road becomes unsafe after evening due to the presence of wild elephants.

Local BNP leader and ward president Md Surozzaman Suroj said the farming community has been severely affected as they are unable to transport crops to markets.

Rokonuzzaman Selim, President of a local voluntary organisation TEAM and sports journalist, said around 40,000 people from four villages are suffering due to the disruption.

He urged immediate reconstruction of the road to restore connectivity, warning that the situation could worsen further during the ongoing monsoon season.

Local MP Md Fahim Chowdhury has reportedly been informed about the matter and assured that steps would be taken to address the issue soon.