An apocalyptic atmosphere pervades the bus terminal in Char Sujanagar village of Pabna's Sujanagar upazila. Overgrown with grass, strewn with rubbish and cow dung, the hoped-for transport hub was built at a cost of Tk 1.74 crore by Sujanagar municipality, with construction completed in 2016. But the brand new terminal has never seen a bus. For want of approach roads it remains abandoned.

“We have already taken the initiative to make a two-kilometre concrete road to link the terminal with the upazila headquarters,” says the local mayor Md Abdul Wahab. “The municipality has acquired two acres for the purpose. At a cost of Tk 3.3 crore, road construction will soon begin.”

Yet the terminal building has been neglected for so long that repairs will also be required before any potential opening, locals say. The main gates of the complex made of heavy iron have already collapsed, and in some places the plaster and tiles in the building are dilapidated and damaged.

The municipality told The Daily Star that any repair work is the responsibility of the construction firm since they are yet to take charge of the building. “Tk 30 lakh is yet to be paid to the construction firm. They have to hand over a building that is ready to use, and that includes repair work,” says the mayor.

In the meantime the project's mishandling is a source of frustration for locals. “It is ridiculous that we have a newly-built terminal abandoned and on the verge of destruction while the people of this municipality still endure the traffic jams caused by buses being stranded in the upazila headquarters,” says one resident, Md Sadek Ali.