Road communication between Rangamati and Bandarban has been suspended after a bridge collapsed under the impact of strong currents caused by heavy rainfall and flash floods from upstream, officials and locals said on Saturday.

Days of torrential rain and hill runoff first breached the embankment of a rubber dam in the Dudhpukuria area of Sukhbilash under Padua union in Rangunia upazila of Chattogram, inundating vast surrounding areas and causing widespread suffering.

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On Friday night the heavy flow of water severely damaged the important Bridgeghat Bridge on the Rangamati-Bandarban road before it eventually collapsed, bringing all vehicular movement on the route to a halt from Saturday morning.

Liton Das, general secretary of the Bangalhalia CNG Association, and local CNG drivers Nunu Badsha and Manik said water levels in nearby streams and rivers had risen abnormally due to continuous rainfall over the past few days.

They said the collapse of the rubber dam embankment at Dudhpukuria unleashed a powerful current that washed away the Bridgeghat Bridge, cutting off road communication.

Local residents Md Tushar and Md Tipu said similar situations occur almost every monsoon because of hill runoff, but the absence of permanent protective measures continues to cause severe hardship.

They urged the authorities to reconstruct the damaged embankment and either repair or rebuild the collapsed bridge as soon as possible.

Sakhawat Hossain, executive engineer of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Bandarban, confirmed that the bridge collapsed after the rubber dam embankment gave way under the pressure of floodwaters.

He said an RHD team with necessary equipment is ready to restore communication, but they have been unable to reach the site as sections of the road in the Balaghata and Swarnamandir areas remain submerged.