Saifullah Nasir from Amtoli (Barguna):

The bridge built over the Amragachhia-Gulisakhali canal in Amtoli upazila of Barguna district at a cost of Tk 6.25 crore is not coming to help of commuters due to faulty design and massive negligence and irregularities of the authorities concerned.

Currently, there is needed ladder, if someone wants to get on the bridge for crossing. The construction of such a bridge as part of a development project has become a cause of suffering for thousands of people living neighboring areas, locals said.

According to the sources, the then Awami League government under supervision of LGED undertook a project of Tk 6,22,58,323 for constructing a bridge on Gulishakhali canal near Amragachhiya baza’ar in the upazila in 2023. The concerned official of LGED in Barguna gave the work order to Barishal based construction firm Messrs Kohinur Enterprise and Tripura JV for constructing the bridge with 66 meters long and 6.77 meters wide.

The construction firm started construction after receiving the work order on May 19, 2023 and the contractor completed the construction of the main bridge before the deadline. But a problem arose with the construction of the approach road.

Locals said, there is a road for movement of Purba Khekuani village at the top of the slope of the bridge on the western side of the bridge, about five feet above from the ground. The problem arose because if the connecting road is constructed according to the design and height, another road will be closed for movement.

It was seen on the spot that, the bridge has been lying without approach road for over 11 months since its construction. This has caused suffering to about 40,000 people from 20 villages in three unions.

During the visit, this correspondent found that locals use ladder built by wood and bamboo for movement over the bridge. But difficulties are created, while children and elderly men face emergency to cross the area.

As no type of vehicle can climb the bridge, various obstacles are being created in the transportation of goods. If someone needs to transport goods, he or she has to go around ten kilometers and cross the Bahishkata bridge. They have to pay additional fare. This has put businessmen, ordinary people, school and college students in trouble.

Talking to locals, it is known that, the bridge is the junction of three unions-Gulishakhali, Chawra and Kukua. Hundreds of people from Purba Khekuani, Gulishakhali, Dalachara, Baibunia and Kalagachia villages of Gulishakhali Union cross this bridge and travel to different destinations including Amtoli Sadar, Barisal and Dhaka. People from Chawra and Kukua Union also cross this bridge and travel to Gulishakhali Union.

“Since the bridge’s connection road has not been built for a long time, we are facing a lot of difficulties in our movement. Especially, there are many problems in transporting goods and bringing and receiving patients. We also face problems in bringing and receiving bodies,” said local resident Abdur Rashid Bhuiyan.

Contractor Md. Kawsar Mia said, “We have completed the construction of the main bridge before deadline. There will be a separate tender for the connecting road. Only the companies that get the work will perform on it.”

Amtali Upazila LGED Engineer Md. Idris Mia said, “If the connecting road is built according to the height of the bridge, another side road will be closed. Therefore, as an alternative, a plan has been taken to build an underpass there so that the main road remains intact. This will increase the cost slightly. For this purpose, a new design and budget have been prepared and sent to the project director. Once the project is approved, tenders will be invited and work will start quickly.”

When he was asked about construction of such as bridge with the faulty design by spending crores of government Taka, the engineer also declined to make any comment in this regard.