Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to visit Khulna on Thursday (5 November), prompting extensive repair, cleaning and beautification work across the city and the Khulna–Mongla highway.
The stretch of the Khulna–Mongla highway from Digharaj to Mongla, long riddled with potholes and barely usable, has been resurfaced with pitch, carpeting and other repairs. Similar work has been carried out on broken sections of the road near Gallamari Bridge, the city’s main entry point, using bricks, sand and cement. Long-standing problem spots have been addressed to ease movement.
Across Khulna metropolitan area, the focus has been on cleanliness and aesthetics rather than the usual billboards, banners and festoons. Walls from Shibbari Mor to the main gate of the railway station now feature graffiti depicting Khulna’s history and heritage, memories of the July movement, a portrait of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, the Sundarbans, the Royal Bengal Tiger, traditional jute mills and sporting achievements.
City Corporation cleaners have cleared weeds from road dividers. On the Nirala section of Sher-e-Bangla Road, piles of garbage and temporary stalls have been removed and trees planted. The damaged divider at Shibbari Mor has been repaired, faded dividers are being painted, and open dustbins along roadsides have been taken away. Residents who previously covered their faces against the stench say they can now move more comfortably.
Khulna Metropolitan BNP president S.M. Shafiqul Alam Mona said party workers and ordinary people will line both sides of the route from Rupsha Kudir Bottola via the Rupsha Bypass Road, Sher-e-Bangla Road and Power House Mor up to the district stadium. Organisational preparations are also underway at key roads, entry points and programme venues.
District BNP member secretary and district council administrator Monirul Hasan Bappi said leaders in all nine upazilas have held successive preparation meetings, with the aim of ensuring a large public turnout to welcome the party chief.
Metropolitan BNP general secretary Shafiqul Islam Tuhin said responsibilities have been distributed among workers for discipline and crowd management, and guidance has been issued on the use of arches, banners and festoons.
Khulna City Corporation administrator Nazrul Islam Monju stated that the goal is to present the city as clean, attractive and well-maintained for the prime minister’s arrival, and that efforts will continue after the visit so residents can benefit from the improvements.
Officials said road works in Khulna, Bagerhat and Mongla for the prime minister’s travel were completed by 3 November. Security cordons, the meeting stage and pandals are in the final stages. Senior officers from the administration, police, SRB, BGB and intelligence agencies are inspecting the areas daily. Repairs and painting of roads, bridges and culverts in Khulna and Bagerhat are also visible.
Preparations and security arrangements have been coordinated by the Bagerhat and Khulna district administrations and the divisional commissioner’s office.
Mongla Port chairman Rear Admiral Arif Ahmed Mustafa said nearly all arrangements linked to the visit—from the venue to road repairs and security—have been given top priority and are almost complete.