Students block Jamuna Bridge’s western highway

Rabindra University students blocked the highway on the west bank of the Jamuna Bridge in Sirajganj for an hour, demanding the speedy approval and full implementation of the DPP for the construction of a permanent campus. This stopped traffic on both sides and caused extreme suffering to passengers. The blockade was lifted after an hour and traffic resumed normally. The students started the blockade at the Jamuna Bridge West Roundabout on Thursday (August 14) at around 12 noon. As a result, traffic from Dhaka to North Bengal via the Jamuna Bridge was stopped. Traffic normalized when the students lifted the blockade around 1 pm. The students said that even after 9 long years of the university’s establishment, they are still being deprived of quality education and necessary facilities as a permanent campus has not been built. They warned of stricter programs if their demands are not implemented quickly. The university’s teachers, officials and employees also expressed solidarity with the students’ movement. The university authorities said that since a permanent campus has not been built even after 9 years of its establishment, academic and administrative activities have to be conducted in a rented building. Although the Ministry of Education has approved the project worth Tk 519 crore, it is awaiting ECNEC’s DPP approval.