745 badly damaged

A total of 745 iron bridges out of 1,207 in the eight upazilas of the district are badly damaged, resulting in disruption of road communication in the district.

Of those bridges, 150 were badly damaged by super cyclone Sidr in 2007, but have not been repaired as yet.

Patuakhali Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Senior Assistant Engineer Abu Hanif Mridha said 1,207 iron bridges were built in the district from 1995 to 2004. Most of those were damaged by storms and cyclones, including Sidr, Aila and Mahasen, and 745 became unfit for use due to lack of repair.

There are 280 damaged iron bridges out of 480 in Mirzaganj upazila, 195 out of 295 in Baufal, 131 out of 220 in Galachipa, 42 out of 82 in Sadar, 40 out of 53 in Kalapara, 27 out of 37 in Dashmina, 15 out of 25 in Dumki and five out of 15 in Rangabali upazila, he said

A project of Tk 1,800 crore for repair and renovation of iron bridges in Barishal division was approved by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) a few months ago, he added. 

Asma Begum, 30, a housewife of Jalisha village of Mizaganj, said the iron bridge was badly damaged by super cyclone Sidr in 2007, and villagers have to use the bridge taking a risk since then.

Md Zakir Mridha, 45, of the village said there are some educational institutions, including government primary school, high school and college, on the west side of the bridge and several hundred students from the east side cross the risky bridge daily.

Mirzaganj Upazila LGED Engineer Md Sultan Ahmed said around 100 iron bridges were badly damaged by Sidr.

Mirzaganj Upazila Parishad Chairman Md Abu Bakar Siddik said the damaged bridges could not be repaired in 11 years due to lack of funds. They repaired a few bridges but do not have the funds to repair all of them, he added.

On a recent visit to Betagi Sankipur area under Dashmina upazila, this correspondent saw some students crossing the Sutabaria canal by a wooden country boat as the iron bridge on the canal collapsed on December 14 in 2016.

Rakib, 9, a Class IV student of Jalisha Government Primary School in Mirzaganj upazila, said he goes to his school by crossing a risky iron bridge on Doklakhali canal as there is no alternative.

Like Rakib, around 50 more students of the school have to cross the bridge daily at great risk.

Acting headmaster of the school Hiron Ahmed said the middle section of the bridge collapsed when a sand-laden vessel hit the bridge recently. Nusrat, a five-year-old girl, was killed in the incident, he said, adding that they urged the higher authorities to take steps to repair the bridge considering the suffering of school goers.

Pajadia High School Headmaster Abul Kalam said attendance of students has decreased as the lone bridge collapsed about one and a half years ago.

An iron bridge on Pankhali canal under Galachipa upazila broke down on April 30 in 2017 when some students were crossing it, he said, adding that nine kids were injured in the accident.