Locals and commuters have to pass this narrow road on foot nowadays but even that becomes a hazard due to canvassers and illegal hawkers and the crowd that is drawn to them.

"The road is always blocked with people and police do very little to stop the hawkers and canvassers," said a passerby.

The link road, which stretches from Manarat International University (MIU) to Baridhara, has a history of getting submerged during the flood season under water from the Baridhara Lake.

"During the last flood, our semester ended two months later than the scheduled date as one portion of the university adjacent to the road went under water," said Tanvir, a student of MIU.

Along with improving the sewerage system, the DCC is also trying to increase the height of the road from the level of the lake and also plans to expand it on both sides.

But local residents and commuters are suffering as they can no longer use the road as a short cut and have to drive through the busy Gulshan Circle 1.

"It takes much longer to reach the desired destination now as most motorised vehicles and rickshaws use the same route to commute resulting in constant traffic congestion on the road from Gulshan Circle 1 to Shahzadpur," said Aynal, a rickshaw-puller.

In order to avoid the traffic jam, some commuters prefer to walk through the under-construction link road.

Even with the problems, many people have welcomed the DCC initiative as they want a permanent solution to the drainage and waterlogging situation of the road which often remained in a damaged state. But there is no sympathy for the illegal encroachers at different spots who compound the miseries.

Earlier, there were make-shift shops on either side of the road but when the construction started, those shops vanished. However, the shop owners have come back as hawkers and are selling garments, medicines and other items on the road. Canvassers have also taken up the opportunity of selling their products to the pedestrians who use the road.

Some hawkers alleged that each canvasser was paying Tk 20 or above to the local police per day to continue their business. Officials of the Gulshan police station, however, denied the allegations.

"We let them carry on as they are not breaking any law. And as the road is still under construction, it is not as busy as it used to be," said duty officer Shafiq.

"Hopefully, at the rate at which we are working now, we will be able to complete the work in two more months," said a staff of the contractors hired by the DCC. However, locals are bracing for the worst with the rainy season just around the corner.