The bridge built over the canal in Bangalpara village of Sadhurpara union of Jamalpur’s Bakshiganj upazila collapsed five years ago due to severe floods. As a result, road communication between five villages on the western side of the bridge was cut off. The people of the area travel by foot during the dry season and by boat during the monsoon. Residents are suffering due to lack of traffic.
Last Monday, a huge canal was seen on the ground in Bengalpara. Due to the dry season, the water in the canal is very less. There is no sign of a bridge between the canals. However, there are a few concrete pieces of the broken bridge on the east and west sides of the bridge. People are traveling on foot on the south side of the bridge. But now no vehicles ply on this road. Some said that to go to the upazila town by vehicle, one has to travel about five kilometers. It wastes their time and money.
Nazrul Islam, general practitioner of Gazirpara village, said, ‘You could go to the upazila town in just 10 minutes by crossing the bridge. Since the bridge was broken, we had to go to the upazila town by taking different routes. People are suffering from it.’
Talked to local residents about the bridge. They said that there was a bridge of 30 meters length on the Bangalpara canal of the upazila. The bridge was the only hope of travel in the villages of Bangalpara, Gazirpara, Char Gazirpara, Katuberchar and Daparpara on the western side of the bridge. In the month of August 2019, there was a severe flood in the upazila. The entire bridge was washed away by the flood. As a result, road communication with the five villages of the upazila city was cut off. About 25 thousand people of these villages suffered.
Sadhurpara Union Parishad Chairman (Acting) Md. Ziaur Rahman. He said that the local administration has been informed in various ways for the construction of a new bridge. But it is not getting any results. A bridge needs to be built there even for humanitarian reasons.
When the matter was brought to notice, Bakshiganj Upazila Engineer (LGED) Md. Shamchul Haque said that the possibility of building a new bridge over the canal has been verified. Already senior LGED authorities have visited the place. It is hoped that the construction of a bridge will start there soon.