Fifth deadline missed

The construction firms have missed the deadline for fifth time to complete the construction work of a bridge on the Ratnai river at Karnapur village in Sadar upazila of the district.

The 120-metre long and eight-metre wide bridge under Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) was scheduled to complete construction in November 2018.

But it has missed five deadlines for completion in November 2018, May 2018, November 2019, May 2019 and May 2020. Till the date, 65 to 70 percent work of the bridge has been completed.

As a result, thousands of villagers of 10 villages in Mogholhat union of the upazila have been suffering a lot, said locals, adding that the villagers have to spend extra money to cross the river on boats during the rainy season.

Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila Engineer of LGED Shah Obaidur Rahman said the contractor concerned has already missed five deadlines to complete the construction work of the bridge. The construction work began in September 2016.

Two private firms--Surma and Abu Bakkar-- jointly obtained the work order to construct the bridge at a cost of Tk 6.2 crore, Obaidur said, adding that he has already informed the district LGED authorities about the delay of the construction work.

Farmer Hemnata Chandra Barmon, 62, of Karnapur village in the upazila, said as the bridge construction is still incomplete, they are crossing the river on boat to go to the district headquarters.

They have to spend Tk 10 as boat fare for each trip, he said.

"We suffer a lot as the construction work of the bridge is yet to be completed and we don't know when construction work of the bridge would be completed and opened for traffic," said the farmer.

Rahim Miah, 48, a resident of Megharam village beside the under-construction bridge, said although the contractor is delaying the construction work of the bridge, LGED authorities are not taking any action in this regard

If the authorities concerned do not take any alternative steps, the construction work will be delayed more, causing immense sufferings to villagers, said Rahim.

Contacted, contractor of the bridge Golam Rabbani said the construction work was delayed as they had to face huge troubles during the pilling work in the river.

The construction work of the bridge would be completed by November this year, he said.

Lalmonirhat LGED Executive Engineer Ashraf Ali Khan told The Daily Star that they served notice to the contractor concerned mentioning he would be blacklisted if he failed to complete the construction work by November this year.

"If the bridge construction over the Ratnai river is not completed by November this year, we will take alternative steps", said the executive engineer, adding that of course, department will take legal action against the contractor as per rules.