Sonahat Bridge Remains Unfinished After Seven Years, 139-Year-Old Rail Bridge Bears the Load

Construction of the Sonahat Bridge over the Dudhkumar River in Bhurungamari upazila of Kurigram has not been completed even after seven years. Despite extending the project deadline six times and increasing its cost to around Tk 141 crore, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has failed to complete the work. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people from six unions, along with goods-laden trucks heading to Sonahat Land Port, are risking their lives by using a dilapidated railway bridge built in 1887 during the British era.

According to RHD and local sources, around 75 percent of the bridge construction has now been completed. Work on 14 slabs, 70 girders and 14 spans of the bridge, as well as the approximately one-kilometre approach road on the western side, has been completed. However, work on the approximately 280-metre approach road on the eastern side remains stalled due to complications over the land. The land acquisition process has been halted because of a dispute between Bangladesh Railway and local residents over ownership of the land.

In 2018, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the 645-metre bridge project over the Dudhkumar River on the Sonahat Land Port road in Bhurungamari. The initial estimated cost was Tk 136.33 crore, which was later increased to Tk 141 crore. MM Builders and Engineers Ltd and National Development Engineers Ltd (JV) were jointly awarded the contract. Construction began on July 22, 2019, and was scheduled to be completed by January 22, 2021. However, design flaws, rising construction material prices, delays by the contractor and complications over land acquisition caused prolonged delays in the project.

Shamim Reza, manager of the contracting firm, said work on the 280-metre section on the eastern side could not begin because the land-related complications had not been resolved. An inter-ministerial meeting was recently held to resolve the issue, but no final solution has yet been reached.

Meanwhile, as the bridge has not yet opened, the 139-year-old single-lane railway bridge remains the only option for local residents and heavy vehicles transporting stone and coal through Sonahat Land Port. Traffic often comes to a halt as the bridge’s decking has deteriorated. Severe traffic congestion occurs particularly on Saturdays and Tuesdays, the market days in Bhurungamari.

Ashraful Alam, an autorickshaw driver at Sonahat Bazar, said vehicle wheels often get stuck because the old bridge’s decking is damaged. Under normal circumstances, people have to wait at least half an hour to cross the bridge. The suffering becomes worse on market days.

Residents of six unions, including Kachakata police station area, said goods-laden trucks from the land port and local people use the bridge every day. The risky transportation system is severely disrupting the transportation of agricultural products as well as trade and commerce in the area. Local residents Al Amin and Abdul Latif expressed frustration, saying it was hard to imagine that building a single bridge could take so many years. They said the bridge’s opening would give fresh momentum to the economy of the border area.

Mir Nizam Uddin, executive engineer (additional charge) of the Kurigram Roads and Highways Department, said around 75 percent of the main structure of the bridge had been completed. If the land-related complications can be resolved, the remaining work will be completed quickly, and there are plans to open the bridge to traffic by June next year.