Two Dimla bridges without approach roads for 3 years

Two bridges at Tepa Kharibari union in Dimla upazila have been without approach roads for around three years, causing immense suffering to residents of the village.

The bridges are on the Purbo Kharibari village main road, a very important road that connects the left embankment of Teesta river leading to the upazila headquarters 25-km away at one end, and local border outpost of Border Guard Bangladesh close to the Bangladesh-India border at the other end.

Visiting the site recently, this correspondent learned that one of the bridges was built at Jinjirpara by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in 2014-2015 fiscal year. The concrete bridge, fifty-foot-long and six-foot-wide, was built at a cost of Tk 20 lakh.

“It has been lying unused for around three years as the approach roads, which were built carelessly with sand without compaction, were washed away by flood in 2015, only six months after construction,” said Yamin Hossain, 25, a local resident.

Another bridge at Jijirpara of the same village is also without approach roads as they were washed away by flood in 2015. Photo: EAM Asaduzzaman

“LGED men seldom visit the area, although we brought the matter to the notice of the authorities concerned a number of times,” said Md Shahin, 28, another resident.

During the visit, another bridge without approach road was found on the same road at Meherpara of the village, one-km away from the first bridge.

Hafizar Rahman, a villager, said the relief and disaster management department in Dimla constructed the thirty-eight-foot-long bridge at Meherpara in 2015-2016 fiscal year at a cost of Tk 32 lakh. But the approach roads on both the ends were washed away during the flood in 2017, one year after construction, as they were built with sand without planting grass on the slopes, he added.

Tepa Kharibari Union Parishad Chairman Rabiul Islam Shahin said he had informed the LGED authorities and relief and disaster management office in Dimla about the damaged bridges.

District LGED Executive Engineer Belal Hossain said Tk 40 lakh has been allocated for repair work of the Jinjir para bridge and approach roads and the work will start soon as tender process is completed.

District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Aktaruzzaman said they could not bring the Meher para bridge under flood rehabilitation project, but are preparing to start reconstruction of the approach roads under the upcoming work-for-taka project.