Siam Ahmed:

People of 29 villages are facing immense sufferings due to lack of a bridge over the Bonpara Gohala River near Nada village in Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj district.
Farmers of the villages can’t carry their crops and other valuable goods to different destinations for want of a bridge on the river.
A field visit revealed that, the Gohala River flows about two kilometers south of Nada village in the upazila. During the dry season, the river becomes shallow, but in the monsoon, it turns fierce and dangerous.
Due to lack of bridge, farmers from these 29 villages struggle to reach their lands as well as face trouble to return homes after harvesting crops from the lands. They are forced to rely on risky bamboo structured bridge or boats in the rainy season.
Despite the situation persisting for a long time, no effective measure has been taken by the authorities concerned so far.
It is a long cherished demand of the villagers that the authorities concerned will take initiative to build a permanent bridge on the river to ease their daily struggles and ensure better communication facility.
Locals claimed that, the vast area gets flooded every monsoon. On the southern bank of the river, there are about 2,407 acres of arable land in several villages including Bri-Angaru, Potajia, Rautara, Bilchandak, Kenai, Chithulia, Barabil, Bayrapara, Dattapungli and Gachhpungli.
On the northern bank, farmers from 11 villages including Boltoil, Atiarpara, Chakpara, Elongjani and Konabari cultivate various crops on their lands each year.
A large amount of mustard, paddy, potato, wheat, cucumber, sponge gourd, black gram (mashkalai), and vegetables are grown in these fields. However, due to lack of a bridge and Pacca roads, farmers are compelled to carry their harvested crops on their heads or cattle carts.
But, there is a problem that, if they use bullock carts or buffalo carts for carrying the crops to homes, they are forced to pay 25-30 percent of the crops as fare, which is additional burden for them.
Hafizul Islam, a farmer from Nada village, told The Daily Sky that, “We face a lot of trouble, while crossing the river for cultivating the lands or harvesting the crops. There is no bridge for crossing the river. Due to lack of bridge, people can’t move easily. As a result, most of our lands have turned into single-crop fields. Therefore, the demand for a bridge on the river has become strenthened.”
Jasmat Ali, a farmer from Nada Chakripur village, said, “We don’t need a huge bridge. Just a bridge would be enough to allow us to regularly cultivate the land on the other side. Nowadays, the use of modern agricultural machinery has increased. But due to the absence of a bridge over the river, we face difficulties in applying fertilizers, pesticides and medicines on time, as well as in planting, harvesting and marketing our crops. As a result, despite bumper yield of crops every year, we face manifold problems. We are deprived of fair prices of the crops.”
Talking about the farmers’ suffering due to the lack of a bridge, Upazila Agriculture Officer Subarna Yasmin Sumi said, “This is a fair demand from the farmers. I have personally visited the area. Although the farmers are getting good yields by following the advice of the agriculture department, their suffering continues because poor communication facility.”
Upazila Engineer Shahidullah said, “I have joined here recently. I am not aware about the farmers’ sufferings. I will visit the area and take necessary steps shortly.”