Under construction bridge lacks required height

Water transports to face danger during the rains
An under construction bridge on the Ichhamoti River in Sirajdikhan upazila under the district is likely to pose serious threat to the water transports plying under the bridge in the rainy season as the structure lacks required height.

“The bridge is about 11 feet high from the present water level. In the rainy season the water level will rise by around eight feet, leaving only three feet room for river vessels to move under the bridge,” said Mujibor Rahman, a resident of Majidpur village in the upazila.

This under construction bridge on the Ichhamoti River in Sirajdikhan upazila under Munshiganj district leaves too little height for boats, posing danger to vessels plying the river, especially during the rainy season when the water level rises by several feet.

It will not be possible to run boats carrying agricultural products under the bridge in the rainy season, he added.

Collecting signatures from a large number of people, villagers submitted a complaint to the upazila engineer of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and demonstrated on three occasions demanding stoppage of the work of the bridge but to no effect.

S Sarker Enterprise is constructing the 54 metre by 7.3 metre bridge at a cost of over Tk 2.61 crore under UNR-GDP project of the local government division on a branch of Ichhamoti River at Mirzakanda under Keyain union of the upazila, LGED sources said.

Locals farmers alleged that the under construction bridge is lower than Nimtola Rajanagar-Shekhornagar-Mirzakanda road near Mirzakanda Government Primary School and it will make carrying of agricultural produces on the waterway risky in the rainy season.

Once the bridge is built with low height, about 50,000 people of three unions will suffer as the structure will create obstacle to running of any river transport under it during the rainy season, said local union parishad member Meher Hossain.

A government service-holder seeking anonymity said the contracting firm in collaboration with the upazila engineer hurriedly completed the moulding work of the bridge.

Contacted, engineer Aminul Islam of LGED said, “The bridge has been built as per plan and I do not think that the height is a bit low. There was not any financial wrongdoing here.”

This correspondent made several phone calls to contracting firm S Sarker Enterprise, but none received those calls.

thedailystar

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