Thousands of people from seven villages are crossing the Vata River every day at the risk of their lives with a decrepit bamboo bridge at Fatehpur village under the western union of Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria.
Accidents often happen here. Several students have already been injured in the incident.
The 300-meter-long bridge is the only means of communications between Nabinagar for 200,000 people from six villages in the area.
In that area Fatehpur Government Primary School, Nabinagar West Union Parishad Bhaban, Hazrat Walisha Mazar Sharif and several mosques, madrasas and kindergartens are located. Young students and people have to cross the bamboo bridge to go to these buildings.
According to locals, it cost around two to three lakh takas to build this bridge about two years ago.
The bridge was built and repaired by collecting donations from the locals. However, at the beginning, the length of the bridge was 300 meters, but now it has become 200 meters due to the filling of soil around the bridge. The construction of a paved bridge here instead of bamboo, a long-standing demand of the locals.
Western Union Parishad Chairman Feroz Mia said in order to meet the long standing demand of the locals, the construction of the bridge was requested several times in the past, but so far the locals did not see the desired face of the bridge.
UpazilaParishad Chairman Mohammad MoniruzzamanMonir said, ‘Our local MP has sent 16 more bridges of the upazila including this bridge to the ministry for approval, hopefully the bridge will be approved soon’.
