Every monsoon, farmer Mojibor Rahman of Takuria village carries sacks of produce on his back and walks 1.5 kilometres to Aramnagar Bazar because no van or rickshaw driver is willing to brave the mud-soaked road past his home.

For Abdur Razzaq, a mathematics teacher at Char Girish M Mansur Ali High School in Kazipur, the same stretch is the only route to his workplace from the Sarishabari upazila headquarters.

“Once the rains set in, the journey becomes gruelling,” he said.

The hardship is shared by more than 50,000 residents of 25 villages -- 15 in Kazipur upazila of Sirajganj and 10 in Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur.

For them, the 1.5-kilometre road connecting Kumariabari Bazar to the Jhalupara Bridge area via Char Sarishabari Moddhopara in Satpoa union is the only direct link to schools, colleges, markets, and the upazila and district headquarters.

Students are among the worst sufferers during the monsoon, as most higher educational institutions are located in the Sarishabari upazila headquarters.

“Our suffering during the monsoon is beyond description,” said Altaf Hossain of Salgram village, alleging that successive governments had ignored residents’ demands to pave the road for the past 50 years.

Sharif Miah of Char Sarishabari said although the road had remained unpaved for more than half a century, it continued to serve as a lifeline for people living in the char areas.

Shakil Ahmed, a member of Satpoa Union Parishad, said repeated assurances had never translated into action.

Contacted, LGED Sarishabari Upazila Engineer Golam Kibria Tomal said, “We have already sent a proposal to the higher authorities. Once it is approved, construction work will begin.”