Six months ago, the construction work of the 90 meter long bridge was completed at a cost of around 9 crore rupees. But the bridge is of no use as the connecting road is not constructed. No vehicle can move over it. The bridge has been constructed on Katakhali river in Bandrauha village of Nangla union of Melandah upazila of Jamalpur. The construction of the bridge was completed in June this year.
Talking to the local people, it is known that if the bridge is opened, the travel of about 10,000 people of Puthiarpara, Khasimara, Lalchia and Mahmudpur villages of Nangla Union will be easier. The people of these four villages now commute using the Puthiarpara-Shahin Bazar dirt road. During the monsoon season, it is very difficult to travel through the road. For this, the bridge was constructed on the Katakhali river in view of the demands of the villagers. If it is launched, students will be able to easily go to the educational institutions of the two countries. Apart from that, the road distance will decrease with the upazila headquarters.
Recently, it can be seen on the ground in that area, the bridge is standing on the river. But there is no road on both sides. On the western side of the bridge are paddy fields and on the eastern side is a village. You have to go to the bridge through paddy fields. However, because both sides are high, there is no way to climb the bridge.
Sheikh Mahmud, a resident of Puthiarpara village, said that even though they have gone to the authorities many times, they are not able to get the connecting road of the bridge constructed. As a result, they gave up hope of using this bridge. They have to travel more than one kilometer to go to the upazila headquarters.
Rabiul Islam, a student of Khasimara village, said that during the monsoon season, everyone has to travel on unpaved roads with great difficulty. The whole road is full of mud. Even then, one has to travel around one kilometer to go to various destinations including educational institutions. If the connecting road of the bridge is constructed, the students and villagers will be freed from this suffering.
In this regard, Executive Engineer of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Jamalpur office Sayeduzzaman told Prothom Alo that the bridge will change the image of those villages. While taking up the bridge construction project, the villagers said that they will give space for road construction. But when the construction of the bridge was completed, the villagers refused to give the land. Later the land was taken by land acquisition. Due to this, the construction of the road on both sides is getting delayed. Land acquisition is over. Road construction tenders have been invited. Road construction work will start soon.