Bridge damaged even before launch
Who is to blame when a bridge, supposedly built to ease the suffering of locals, starts sagging and developing cracks mere days before it is to be formally inaugurated? After all, it was public money—Tk 57 lakh—that was spent to build the bridge in Chandanaish upazila of Chittagong in the first place. The construction company that was hired to build the bridge has an astounding claim: that they had followed all specifications, and it was only due to strong currents of rainwater that the bridge was damaged. The first question that comes to mind is whether a project of the disaster management department is supposed to be so flimsily designed that even before its launch it can be so seriously damaged by a predictable and regular natural event.
We are left with two likely conclusions—first, the office responsible for designing the bridge did not do its job properly, and second, the construction company did not stick to the specifications. Either way, it was fortunate that the cracks were noticed before the bridge was opened to vehicles. But, the question of responsibility cannot be avoided, since the incident points to corruption, negligence and insufficient oversight. We have been told that the Upazila Nirbahi Officer had formed a probe committee to look into the incident and submit a report two days ago. But, at the time of writing this, the UNO was yet to receive the report.
The whole incident points towards the usual suspects that plague our administrative and development activities. This is not only a question of money ill-spent, but of putting lives at risk. We look forward to the findings of the probe report, and urge that based on the findings, the administration and the ACC take exemplary measures against those responsible to deter such corrupt practices in future.
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