Kadamrasul Bridge over Shitalakshya: Construction yet to begin 6yrs on

On a cold winter night, Md Nasir, a resident of Ekrampur, found himself desperately looking for a boat at the wharf. The clock had just struck midnight and no boats were in sigh.

Nasir was desperately clinging onto his mother Taslima Banu, 60, who had just suffered a stroke and needed to be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. His brother was at his side.

The Ekrampur area is located on the east bank of the Shitalakshya river.

The nearest hospital was on the other side of the river, only accessible by taking a boat and then a car. But there was no boat at the wharf.

"It was a race against time. By the time a boat finally arrived, it was 12:30am. Then it took another 20 minutes to cross the river and find a vehicle to reach the government hospital in Narayanganj city," Nasir said.

Taslima Banu was later shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where she breathed her last at noon the following day.

 "If there was a bridge over the river, my mother would have probably lived today, since she could then be taken to the hospital in less than 10 minutes," Nasir lamented in grief.

The Shitalakshya river flows between Narayanganj district headquarter and Bandar upazila. As such, thousands of people from these two areas have to cross the river regularly using boats from four wharfs, as there is no other alternative, except a ferry service that operates only from the Nabiganj area.

Accidents also happen on this river often, especially during the monsoon.

Local residents have long been demanding a bridge on the river to connect the two areas. In response, candidates always came up with promises to fulfill the demand every time a local or national election approaches.

But no action would happen after the elections, the locals complained.

Finally, Dr Selina Hayat Ivy, following her re-election as mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation, took up an initiative to build a bridge over the Shitalakshya to fulfill her commitment to voters.

The NCC's Tk 590.75 crore project to construct the 1,385-metre bridge with 3.5km approach road was approved in the ECNEC meeting on October 9, 2018. It was decided that the bridge would be named Kadamrasul Bridge, after the Kadamrasul Dargah in Bandar upazila.

The stipulated deadline to complete the project was June 2022. However, the construction did even start after six years passed since the project's approval. The deadline was eventually extended, while the cost also went up, but the work simply did not begin.

"The project has become a difficult one to implement due to numerous obstacles that emerged, including land acquisition. By the time the complications were resolved, the deadline had expired. Even the design of the project had to be changed eventually," said Abdul Aziz, superintendent engineer of NCC.

Lands owned by the Railway and BIWTA on the west side of the river stood in the way of the project. Also, a part of land owned by Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal Ltd was another obstacle. Complications also emerged with acquisition of land previously owned by food ministry on the river's east side, said sources at NCC's Engineering Department.

NCC officials said they recently managed to overcome these complications, and a new deadline of June 30, 2026, has been decided for the project's completion. Meanwhile, the cost of the project went up by 28 percent.

Local residents, however, grew skeptical as the construction of Kadamrasul Bridge failed to start multiple times.

"My hair has turned grey since I first started hearing about this bridge over the Shitalakshya. They just promise it every time an election approaches, then forget about it altogether once they get elected," said Md Kabir, 55, who runs a tea stall on the river bank.

Earlier, during BNP's tenure two decades back, a project was taken to construct a bridge on the river at Nabiganj area, but it never saw the light of day.

Meanwhile, the third Shitalakshya Bridge, named after late AKM Nasim Osman, a freedom fighter and former MP of Narayanganj-5, connects Narayanganj Sadar and Bandar upazilas and was opened to traffic on October 10, 2022. However, this bridge did not benefit the people on both sides of the river due to being located several kilometres away from the centre points of the river's two sides.

Jahirul Islam, joint general secretary of Narayanganj Nagorik Committee, a citizens' platform, said "Kadamrasul Bridge will actually make the much needed connection between two sides for the local residents. The third Shitalakshya Bridge, on the other hand, eases communication between Chattogram and southwestern districts via Padma Bridge, but does not benefit the local residents much."

He urged the concerned government departments to be more sincere regarding implementation of the project and start the construction soon.

NCC superintendent engineer Abdul Aziz said the Local Government Engineering Department, the responsible authority for the bridge's construction, has invited tenders and later held a meeting for evaluating the tenders.

Contacted, Md Ahsanujjaman, executive engineer of LGED in Narayanganj, said "Due to different reasons, the construction could be started even after appointing a consultant. The tender work will be completed soon, and the construction work is expected to start within this year."