Bridge built without approach road

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Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is constructing a bridge on the Shibu River at Tanore upazila, Rajshahi at a cost of about Tk 4 crore without building any approach road on either side.

LGED officials said the 210-metre bridge was designed during the BNP-Jamaat rule as the then prime minister pledged the construction of a 10-km road between Soipara of Mohonpur upazila and Gollapara of Tanore upazila.

The Daily Star conducted a spot visit recently when columns of the under-construction bridge were seen in the middle of the 1.5-km-wide river.

The bridge has no road link between Gollapara Bazar, one km from the bridge, and the road to Soipara which is 1.5-km away. Also the LGED does not own land around the bridge to be able to construct approach road.

“The bridge is urgently needed for boosting local business and other convenience but without proper roads it will be nothing but waste of money,” said Sukumar Roy, a local fish trader who was seen crossing the river on a boat with his fish.

Halfway into the work, LGED recently sent a proposal to the ministry concerned for acquiring private land of a beel and government land of the river to build the approach road, said LGED officials.

After its approval, the approach road would be built filling a part of the river, they said.

The Tk 3.92-crore bridge construction work was awarded to a Rajshahi-based construction firm, owned by Khandaker Mainul Hossain, vice-president of Rajshahi district BNP and vice-president of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, in January, 2006.

In March, 2006, former postal and telecommunication minister barrister Aminul Haque laid the foundation stone. Aminul is now on the run following conviction in a militancy abetting case.

The construction work remained suspended for a year after the firm pleaded for more money following price hike of construction materials. Construction stopped again on June 11 last due to arrival of the monsoon. The project is to be completed by 2009.

Tanore upazila LGED engineer Mostak Hossain Joarder said, “There is no problem in constructing the approach road after the bridge is done… Many things cannot be planned at the same time.”

“It will take time as land acquisition is a time consuming process,” he said when asked when the road will be built.

“Constructing the link road will not affect the river [due to filling of a part of the river]… The river has already narrowed down and chars have appeared at places with the river leaving behind soil residues,” he said.

During the end of the previous BNP-Jamaat coalition rule, around 20 bridges were constructed in the district, including one costing Tk 17 lakh on Chanduria canal in Tanore, one costing Tk 11.68 lakh at Mohisalbari in Godagari upazila and one costing Tk 67 lakh on Boral river in Charghat upazila.

All the bridges are still unusable as they do not have any approach road or any road linking the bridges to other roads.

The number of unusable bridges is 600 in Rajshahi division. Contractors, chosen allegedly at the behest of former ministers and lawmakers, have reportedly withdrawn all the money for the constructions.

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