The approach road of a bridge, built over the Dhaleswari river, collapsed in Choubaria area under Sadar upazila of Tangail district on Wednesday morning, halting traffic movement on Tangail-Torapganj road.
The west side link road of the (SDS) bridge under Katuli union of the upazila broke down in the early hours of Wednesday morning, leaving over one lakh people in five unions of Tangail Sadar and Nagarpur upazilas disconnected.
Sources said the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) constructed the 170.64-meter-long bridge over the Dhaleswari River on Tangail-Torapganj road in 2006 for road communications to Katuli, Hugra, Kakua and Mahmudnagar unions of Sadar upazila and Bharra union of Nagarpur upazila.
Ever since the construction of the bridge, the approach roads on the east and west banks have collapsed several times during monsoons due to illegal dredging. However, with the help of locals, the LGED restored the communication immediately by making temporary repairs with sandbags and iron sheets.
Zakir Hossain, a CNG driver on this road, said both sides of the bridge are collapsing repeatedly. This is causing great suffering, he said, demanding immediate action in this regard.
Auto-rickshaw driver Motaleb Mia said erosion has been taking place gradually for the past few days. “I brought a passenger on Wednesday morning and saw that the road was broken. After dropping the passenger, I saw the scene of destruction. We will not be able to operate the vehicle without immediate alternative measures.”
Upazila Local Government Engineering Directorate (LGED) Engineer Fazlur Rahman said, “I visited the spot with the upazila chairman. The road will be repaired soon. The matter has been informed to the Water Development Board.”
Tangail Sadar Upazila Chairman Tofazzal Hossain Khan Tofa said the approach road of the bridge is collapsing due to recent rain and strong current. As this is an important road, necessary measures will be taken to stop the road collapse soon.
He also said apart from this, there is an idea of doing something permanent. “I have just taken charge of the Upazila Parishad. This road is the means of communication of people of five unions of West Tangail. I am definitely looking at the matter seriously,” he said. Water Development Board Executive Engineer Sajjad Hossain said an engineer has been sent to the spot. As the road belongs to the LGED, the engineer of LGED has been informed of it. Necessary measures will be taken to alleviate the suffering at the earliest.
