Rangamati-Bandarban road link snapped for three months
Road communications between Rangamati and Bandarban has been cut off for three months following the collapse of a Bailey bridge in Kaukhali upazila of Rangamati, causing sufferings to thousands of people in the two hill districts.
The bridge in Bogapara area of Ghagra union collapsed on April 14 when an excavator of Icon Engineering Ltd, a private construction firm, was crossing it, said Md Solaiman, an engineer at the firm.
The excavator was heading for a project site at Betbunia Satellite Earth Station in Kaukhali.
Locals have placed a bamboo stair on the broken bridge to cross it on foot, but it becomes very risky to use during rainfall.
Visiting the area on Wednesday, this correspondent saw hundreds of farmers crossing the bridge on way to the weekly market at Ghagra to sell their produce. They were facing difficulties to reach the market.
Students and commuters have been suffering also as no transport can cross the bridge. Locals said all modes of transport on the Rangamati-Bandarban route have stopped operation since the bridge collapsed.
Local resident Sukh Lal Tanchangya, 38, said people of more than 20 villages of Ghagra union depend on the bridge for communications. “If the bridge is not repaired immediately, things will get worse during the monsoon,” he added.
Md Nurul Amin, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, said they on behalf of local drivers demanded the Roads and Highways Department take up the repair job.
Anil Tanchangya, a seventh grader at Ghagra High School, said a light rain submerges the bridge and students find it very difficult to reach the school.
Md Abu Musa, sub-assistant engineer at Roads and Highways Department in Rangamati, said no fund was allocated for repairing the bridge. The repair work would begin once the fund is available.
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