Movement of vehicles halted

Movement of all types of vehicles has stopped in Ishwardi area on Talma-Chadhat road under Nagarkanda upazila of the district as repair work of an old bridge on a canal started on April 6 without building any alternative road over the canal.

The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives allotted Tk 24 lakh for repair of the slab of the bridge. The contractor stated breaking the slab without building an alternative road there, causing inconvenience for people using the road.

Locals said the Talma-Chadhat road is a very important road and hundreds of buses and trucks use it to go to Gopalganj, Khulna and Bagerhat every day. The contractor has started repairing the bridge without building any alternative road for the buses and trucks, much to the suffering of commuters, they added.

“It will take around one month to finish the work. I do not know if there is any alternative road beside the bridge in this project. The contractor must build the alternative road if there is allotment for it,” said Nagarkanda Upazila Engineer Abdul Hannan.

“Repairing the old bridge without building any alternative bridge is not right. I shall discuss it with the upazila engineer and take steps as soon as possible,” said Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Badruddoza Shuvo.