Kaium Ahmed Jewel, Patuakhali :
A iron bridge over Shaporia Canal near Joybangla Bazar at Mithaganj union under Kalapara upazila in the district is on the verge of collapse for lack of maintenance.
According to sources, the bridge has taken a bad shape for long negligence in necessary repair work.
About 30,000 people of 20 villages cross the bridge at risk. Many of them are primary school students and elderly people, who face the danger of falling into the canal.
The RCC slippers of the bridge collapsed two years back. Locals placed small pieces of wood in the gaps. But they are now become unusable. Many people have got injured after falling down the bridge while going through it so far. The people of the localities fear the bridge may collapse at any moment, sources also said.
One motorcyclist slipped down the bridge with the cycle and got hurt. Accidents are a regular phenomenon on the bridge, some local people said. Hundreds of students of Baliyatali, Mithaganj and Dabluganj union under the upazila go to the different educational institutions regularly in the morning passing through the narrow bride that turned very risky, they added.
Villagers said, “Although the bridge being used for 24 hours is in awfully bad condition, the authorities have not yet taken any step for its permanent repair.”
As nobody has taken initiative to repair the vulnerable bridges till date, they repaired it several times for their communication, the villagers said.
Though many school-going children and adult people regularly go through the bridge, all kinds of vehicles playing over the bridge have been stopped. Hence, people suffer immensely to take patients into the hospital.
Five months before, The outgoing upazila engineer Pronob Kumar said that the bridge would be repaired as soon as possible, but no initiative is taken yet to repair the bridge.
The present Engineer of Kalapara upazila Abdul Mannan said there is no planning of the government to build any iron bridge.
A iron bridge over Shaporia Canal near Joybangla Bazar at Mithaganj union under Kalapara upazila in the district is on the verge of collapse for lack of maintenance.
According to sources, the bridge has taken a bad shape for long negligence in necessary repair work.
About 30,000 people of 20 villages cross the bridge at risk. Many of them are primary school students and elderly people, who face the danger of falling into the canal.
The RCC slippers of the bridge collapsed two years back. Locals placed small pieces of wood in the gaps. But they are now become unusable. Many people have got injured after falling down the bridge while going through it so far. The people of the localities fear the bridge may collapse at any moment, sources also said.
One motorcyclist slipped down the bridge with the cycle and got hurt. Accidents are a regular phenomenon on the bridge, some local people said. Hundreds of students of Baliyatali, Mithaganj and Dabluganj union under the upazila go to the different educational institutions regularly in the morning passing through the narrow bride that turned very risky, they added.
Villagers said, “Although the bridge being used for 24 hours is in awfully bad condition, the authorities have not yet taken any step for its permanent repair.”
As nobody has taken initiative to repair the vulnerable bridges till date, they repaired it several times for their communication, the villagers said.
Though many school-going children and adult people regularly go through the bridge, all kinds of vehicles playing over the bridge have been stopped. Hence, people suffer immensely to take patients into the hospital.
Five months before, The outgoing upazila engineer Pronob Kumar said that the bridge would be repaired as soon as possible, but no initiative is taken yet to repair the bridge.
The present Engineer of Kalapara upazila Abdul Mannan said there is no planning of the government to build any iron bridge.
