When will it be ready?

On July 29, 2018, a bus rammed into Dia Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, both students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, killing them and injuring 12 others while they were standing on the pavement at a bus stop on Airport Road in the capital.

The deaths triggered a nationwide protest calling for road safety by their classmates and students across the country, which eventually prompted the government to approve the long-delayed road transport law.

Amid the movement, the family members of the two students and the principal of the college met the prime minister on August 2 that year where the PM promised to construct an underpass near the college.

It has been more than two years, but the underpass is yet to be completed. As a result, pedestrians and students of the college and other institutions in Kurmitola area continue to cross the busy Airport Road amid risks.

On August 12, 2018, the premier laid the foundation stone of the underpass at an event on the college premises.

The Roads and Highways Department began the construction work on September 26, 2018. The deadline for the Tk 57 crore project ended in June this year and now has been extended till June next year.

"Around 98 percent of the work has already been completed. But due to the ongoing pandemic, we could not complete it," said Md Shamim Al Mamun, executive engineer of RHD. "We are at the final stage. We will be able to complete the work before the new schedule -- June 2021," he told The Daily Star recently.

The underpass is 53-metre long and its width is 3.5-metre. The thoroughfare is connected with north and north-east and western districts. Bangladesh Army is implementing the project.

Once built, it will facilitate safe movement of pedestrians as large numbers of commuters and students of different educational institutions cross the street daily.

"The main objective of the project is to ensure safe and uninterrupted passage for pedestrians and to prevent road accidents," said Shamim Al Mamun.

Meanwhile, locals and pedestrians want the underpass to be completed soon.

"We lost two of our friends and we don't want any more deaths on this road," said Shamim, a student of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment School and College.