Satkhira: Despite Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s assurance, the plan for constructing Navaron-Satkhira rail line remains only within the feasibility study.

People in Satkhira demanded special fund allocation in the upcoming national budget for construction of the rail line through removing the bureaucratic complicacies.

Nearly 22 lakh people live in South-Western district Satkhira.  

Road is the only way of communication to different places from the district.  

Waterway has been closed due to filling up of river.  

Satkhira is becoming economically important due to the Sundarbans, shrimp business and India-Bangladesh export-import activities.

As a result, the only roadway has become busiest way as a means of communications.  

Conscious people apprehend that this problem would be acute soon.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressing a public meeting at Shyamnagar in Satkhira on 23 July 2010 had pledged to construct the railway to fulfil dream of the Satkhira people.  

Later Australian Kanarail Company Ltd completed the feasibility study at a cost of about Tk 11 crore.

Satkhira district administration sources said the report on the feasibility study was submitted to the government in May 2014.

According to the plan, there will be eight stations on 98.42 kms rail line from Navaron of Jessore to Munshiganj Garaze of Shyamnagar in Satkhira.  

The stations are: Navaron, Bagachra, Kolaroa, Satkhira, Parulia, Kaliganj, Shyamnagar and Munshiganj.

It was learnt that there were several meetings of political leaders and civil society in Jessore and Satkhira in August 2014 but there was no tangible progress in this matter.  

Satkhira district Nagarik Committee’s general secretary Abul Kalam Azad said the construction of Navaron-Munshiganj railway is very important since the only road has become unfit for communication due to traffic jam and demanded the prime minister allocate special fund in the upcoming budget for construction of the rail line.

Lawmaker Mustaf Luthfullah from Satkhira-1 and district Workers Party president, said post-feasibility work is going on and they would remove all complicacies if arise.