Broken Bridge: A death trap for commuters
A large portion of the deck of a concrete bridge over a canal on Hatfadilpur-Nityanandapur road in Shailakupa upazila has remained unrepaired for over eight years, causing enormous sufferings to the people of 15 villages.
Locals said part of the deck of the 70-feet-long concrete bridge collapsed in 2015 due to lack of renovation for long, making it difficult for vehicles and commuters to cross it.
In the first week of August this year, one of the locals Rojdar Ali, 42, of Fadilpur village fell from the broken bridge into the dried-up canal and died while crossing it on a bicycle, villagers said.
Meanwhile, many people sustained serious injuries while crossing the bridge over the last eight years, one of the villagers Alamgir Hossain said.
During a recent visit to the area this correspondent saw a large portion of the bridge deck lying broken, posing risk of accidents.
Kamal Sarkar of Kumiradah village said Water Development Board (WDB) constructed the 70-feet-long bridge on Alamdanga Canal under Ganga Kapotakho (GK) Project about 40 years ago.
Thousands of people of 15 villages under the upazila use the bridge for their daily purposes.
Moreover, hundreds of students of five educational institutions, located at Hatfadilpur village, use this bridge to go to their institutions, he said, adding that due to lack of renovation for years part of the bridge deck broke down in 2015 and remained unrepaired since then.
The dilapidated bridge now poses serious risk for commuters as its railing on one side and side walls also breaking down gradually.
However, villagers managed to repair part of the broken deck by with bamboo and logs and using it for crossing the canal amid risks of accidents, he further said.
Although, small vehicles like auto-rickshaws, rickshaw-vans and bicycles can cross the canal amid risk, local farmers cannot carry their products to nearby markets as other vehicles cannot move on it.
They have urged the authorities concerned on several occasions to repair the bridge, but they did not pay heed to their demand, another villager Alamgir said. Jhenidah WDB Executive Engineer Rashedul Hasan said many other bridges like this one need urgent renovation, but they were not able to do the work due to fund crisis.
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