15,000 Jhenaigati Residents Suffer as 4-Year Bridge Project Remains Unfinished

S. K. Sattar, from Sherpur

Work on a bridge in Sherpur was due to end in 18 months, but it is still not done after four years. The bridge is over the Pagla river in Jhenaigati upazila. Because it is unfinished, 15,000 people in several villages suffer badly.

Dhanshail Union member Mr. Siddique Ali said, “Because there is no bridge, women in labour give birth before they reach the hospital. We cannot take sick people to the hospital either. Without this bridge, no one in our villages even wants to marry.”

LGED office sources say the contractor could not finish the work in time, so LGED cancelled the tender after three years. LGED has now made a new estimate and sent it for approval. Locals say the contractor’s neglect has caused four long years of suffering.

People from several villages cross the river between Amir Ali’s house in Kalinagar of Jhenaigati Sadar Union and Saju Mia’s house in Dhanshail Union to the west. In the rainy season, they depend on boats. In the dry season, people from five to seven villages on both sides risk their lives on a bamboo bridge. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) gave the work out at a cost of Tk 5.82 crore.

The work was due to end about 15 months ago, but the contractor built only the piles and one abutment. The government of Bangladesh and the World Bank (IDA) fund the bridge under the Programme for Supporting Rural Bridges (SUPRB). M/S Dhruba Trade Agency of Sherpur won the work for a 75 metre bridge. The contractor stopped work after that and did nothing even when LGED extended the time again and again. LGED sent a few soft notices and took no real action in three years.

After pressure from local people, LGED cancelled the tender. The contractor did very little work, but he has sent LGED a bill for 20 percent of the cost.

Locals say thousands of farmers on both sides of the bridge suffer badly to take their crops to the market. The iron rods have rusted after almost four years of no work, and moss has grown on the abutment. Yet LGED has taken no legal action against the contractor in three years, as if some unseen force held it back. This has raised many questions among the public.

Vegetable farmers Mr. Sultan Mia and Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman of Dakshin Dariyarpar said they bring vegetables by horse cart to one side of the river near Saju’s house in the dry season. Then they carry the crates or sacks on their heads across the bamboo bridge and put them down near Amir Ali’s house. From there, pickups or trucks take the vegetables to different parts of the country. They say this is very hard.

Farmer Nuruzzaman of Bagerbhita village and Nur Ali of Mohanganj said it costs Tk 70 to 80 to carry one maund of vegetables across. They can take cucumber, potato, pumpkin, bottle gourd and yard long bean across. But snake gourd is a problem, because traders do not want to buy it once it breaks.

Farmer Moazzem Ali of Uttar Kanduli said people of 10 to 15 villages run their homes by selling vegetables and paddy. These villages include Dakshin Dariyarpar, Uttar Kanduli, Majhapara, Bagerbhita, Beparipara and Mohanganj Bazar. He said no one, including public representatives, sees their pain. Farmer Shahjahan Mia said the people here are very poor and live on their crops. But they do not get a fair price because of the missing bridge and the broken road.

Without a vehicle, people must carry one sack of fertiliser home in three parts on their heads. Small students risk their lives on the shaky bamboo bridge to reach school, college and madrasa. Al Amin, a class five student of Uttar Kanduli Government Primary School, fell into the water under the bridge. He was hurrying across to buy medicine for his grandmother, and he became a patient himself. He said, “I fell while rushing across for my grandmother’s medicine. I got hurt. Many children like me often fall from the bridge.”

Dhanshail Union Parishad Chairman Mr. Shafiqul Islam said thousands of farmers will get a fair price for their crops if the bridge and the link road are built. He also said the road will become wider from Jhenaigati through Sreebardi, Bhatpur and Tatihat to Rowmari in Kurigram.

LGED Jhenaigati Upazila Engineer Mr. Anantu Bal told Daily Inqilab that LGED cancelled the tender because the contractor could not finish the work in time. He said the contractor sent in a bill after doing 20 percent of the work.

Jhenaigati Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mr. Md. Al Amin told Daily Inqilab that the authorities will call a new tender soon. He said he will talk with the concerned authorities and take the needed steps so the work gets done.