A concrete bridge, built at a cost of Tk 7 crore, over Kesharghat Soti River in Sadar upazila of Lalmonirhat district cannot be used due to no approach road.

Locals, however, made a bamboo bridge to cross the river on foot.

People of the area said that following the demand of nearly one lakh residents of two unions in the upazila, the local administration started the construction work of the bridge in 2021 at a cost of tk 7 crore.

Though the construction work was completed, the authorities concerned failed to erect approach roads on both ends of the bridge due to land acquisition complexities.

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Mujibur Rahman, a resident of Khuniagach village, said they are using the concrete bridge by making bamboo structures on both ends of the bridge as it is the only means of communication. “Public suffering intensified during monsoon,” he said.

According to sources at the Local Government Engineering Department, the LGED started the construction work of the bridge on March 25, 2021, involving Tk 6.82 crore. Though the construction work of the 81m long concrete bridge was completed in time, due to land acquisition problems, no approach roads could be built on both sides of the bridge.

Fazlul Haque, a school teacher, said, “There had been a bamboo bridge over the river and people used to cross it, putting their lives at risk. Currently, there is a concrete bridge, but it has not solved the commuting problems due to the absence of approach roads.”

Nur Mohammad, a local businessman, demanded an immediate solution to the problem to mitigate the suffering of people.

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Shahjamal, a representative of the contractor firm that worked on the bridge, assured that the construction of approach roads will start soon.

Akhtaruzzaman, executive engineer of LGED, said, “We are at the end of resolving the land acquisition problem and the work of approach roads will start soon.”