Politics of un-finished bridges

PHOTO: AZHAR UDDIN/ PROTHOM ALO

Today we are going to talk about bridges; bridges that were to do what they were supposed to do -- bridge the gaps between two sides underneath which rivers and canals crisscrossed at will. The landscape of Bangladesh demands numerous bridges and culverts over rivers and canals so that people can safely cross over to the other side. In the past, the rural landscape was dotted with bridges made of bamboo, very delicate and dangerous, but they served the purpose.
With modernisation, bamboo bridges were replaced with concrete bridges. These were safer and lasted longer. So that is a short take on bridges in Bangladesh. Now, why have we delved in it leaving aside so many interesting things happening all around? There are reasons for that, and here they are.
Maybe our politicians have been greatly inspired by the classic movie "Bridge on the River Kawai." Otherwise, why should they remain so obsessed with constructing bridges even in places where no canal or river existed? A Prothom Alo (local Bengali daily) report says there are nearly three thousand bridges in the country that never got completed in five years.
Some of them stand in the middle of nowhere, with no road or canal in the vicinity! Preposterously, there are two bridges built within yards of one another and yet neither of the two is functional!
People stare at the odd looking structures as they pass by, and contemplate whatever has happened to the "aliens" who had arrived one day and built the "thing." Today, the jonodorodi politicians, the builders, the master plan and the money are "gone with the wind." Ah! Another classic! What a coincidence!
Bravo, brother "bridge-builders." As soon as you come to power you sit with the engineers of R&H, Water Development Board, PWD etc., to draw up plans for constructing bridges in your area. You have to show some activity to the people who have given you their votes. So, you organise a bishal (huge) public meeting one day in the high school ground and give a fiery speech to explain the necessity of having a bridge for the benefit of the people of the locality. You tell them that they are poor and backward because there is no bridge in the area!
The hungry yet gullible people listen to you in amazement and wonder how they could be so blessed to have such a leader who was an epitome of honesty and selflessness (Amen)! You "identify" the place where the bridge would be built, never mind if no canal or river existed there. You tell the people that one day you would dig a canal under the bridge, or maybe create an entire river! But a bridge we must have! So, after convincing the people you go back to R&H or PWD or Water Development Board office and tell them to finalise the plan, pronto. Before that you, however, assure the engineer shahebs of their cut in the deal.
Henceforth, you being the Member of Parliament, take all the trouble to run to special bhabans to help get the plan approved by the higher authorities, run around to get the money sanctioned, run around more to find the contractor of your choice and then sit down with the engineers and overseers to collect their signatures for clearing the bills (Whew, it's hard work, man!).
Once 25% of the work has been completed you get the signature of the chief engineer and get the entire amount, 2 crore, 4 crore, 10 crore, and then go to the private club in Dhaka to cool off in the evening. Life is great, man!
So, that is the tale of the many un-finished bridges that dot the country-side as testaments of blatant misuse of power by a section of politicians of this country. Some of those unfinished bridges cost as much as Tk.20 crore but never got finished. On the other hand, in many remote corners of the country people suffer day in and day out for the absence of a small bridge.
Here the local MP had no time to visit those remote areas after the one trip he took to beg for their votes in the election. Once he became the MP, he conveniently forgot about them. He had no interest in small bridges.
Dear readers, you will often come across news items in newspapers that say local people are constructing roads and bridges voluntarily after failing to get government help. They even spend their own money for such projects. While useless bridges were built elsewhere on useless sites, the real ones were never built.
Talking of bridges reminds us of the cracks on the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge. What a shame! After making so much of noise about it being one of the longest bridges of the world we cannot even keep it in good shape! Are we simply a nation of braggers and boasters, all sound and fury?
We wonder whether everyone, I mean everyone, connected with the construction of the Jamuna bridge should be called to explain why those cracks appeared to make it unstable so soon. I believe this is not something trivial to simply brush under the rugs. Engineers and contractors should be taken to the bridge in a body by a probe team, and asked to explain their bit. Let us know who says what about whom. Let us take it seriously for God's sake.
We also want to know from the engineers, past and present, who exerted pressure for those unfinished three thousand bridges dotting the country-side. That was public money spent in the projects, and the people have the right to know where has the money gone. Unless we dare to catch the big fishes, we shall continue to see ourselves at the top of the list of the most corrupt countries of the world. We do not want that, do we?
Shahnoor Wahid is a Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.