While the "My Village-My City" initiative transforms rural Bangladesh, Dhamsakhali village in Paikgachha, Khulna, remains a stark exception. Residents of Ward No. 4, Chandkhali Union, describe their community as an "isolated island" on the development map, cut off by a crumbling main road that has become a public nuisance.
The only artery connecting Dhamsakhali to the rest of the Upazila has been derelict for years. During the monsoon, the path turns into a swamp of knee-deep mud and stagnant water. In the dry season, broken bricks and heavy dust clouds make travel nearly impossible.
School and college attendance is hampered by the treacherous commute.
Ambulances cannot reach the village; patients and pregnant women must be carried on vans or stretchers over long distances.
Local farmers struggle to transport produce to markets. Drivers often refuse to enter the village, forcing farmers to pay higher transport costs and sell at lower profit margins.
Local residents expressed deep frustration, noting that while mega-projects progress elsewhere, their primary road is ignored. "Is our village invisible to the government?" one resident asked. "We pay our taxes, yet we are left behind in the tide of national development."
The community is now calling for urgent intervention from local representatives and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) to pave the road and integrate Dhamsakhali into the national development fold.
