Hundreds of thousands suffer in Cox's Bazar, Sylhet due to slow progress

Slow progress in two government bridge construction projects has left hundreds of thousands of people to face serious inconveniences for years in Cox's Bazar and Sylhet.

Our correspondent from Cox's Bazar reports, hundreds of thousands of people have been facing much hardship as the works for constructing a 392-metre-long bridge to connect the Khurushkhul and Varuakhali Unions in the Sadar Upazila has stalled after it began four years ago.

Sources related to the project said the speed of work slowed down due to the complexities in land acquisition and the funds allocated not being received on time. Negligence of the contractor is one of the reasons for delay in the project's implementation. The works practically came to a standstill since MA Jaher, the owner of the contractor and former MP of Comilla-5 constituency, went into hiding on August 5, 2024. The bridge will reduce the distance of Cox's Bazar city from both unions by 27 kilometres. Currently, people use dinghies to cross the tidal canal that flows beneath the under construction bridge, which is risky and time-consuming. School and college going children and those involved in the transportation of agricultural products are among the worst affected.

On January 10, 2017, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the 'Khurushkul - Varuakhali Connection Bridge Construction Project'. The initial cost was set at over Tk 362 million. After inviting two rounds of tenders, the job was given to contracting company named Tama Construction and M. A. Zaher (JB) Limited. They started work in January, 2021. According to the contract, the work was supposed to be completed in two years. But, despite extending the deadline twice, the work has not been completed yet.

According to the design, a total of 13 spans will be installed on the bridge, of which eight have been completed so far. The work of installing spans on the main canal has not yet started.

Fazlul Hoque, a member of the Varuakhali Union Parishad, said the situation of the area will change with the opening of the bridge. "Local produce will reach the city (Cox's Bazar city) in 20 minutes."

Demanding speedy completion of the construction work, he further said, "If the bridge is completed, the daily suffering of thousands of people will be alleviated." The locals have already held various programmes, including human chains and marches, for the construction of the bridge. They said they will be forced to launch a larger movement if their demand is not fulfilled soon.

The bridge falls under the jurisdiction of the LGED, Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila.

Sadar Upazila Engineer Al Moein Shahriare said, "Due to various complications, including land acquisition, the project period had to be extended twice. We are trying to complete the bridge work quickly. I think that the quality of life and economic activities of the locals will improve once the bridge is operational."

Our correspondent from Sylhet reports, the absence of a concrete bridge over the Korti canal in Beanibazar Upazila's Alinagar Union caused immense sufferings to locals and travelers for an indefinite period, which, locals say, would be no less than five decades.

In 2019, the construction of a makeshift bamboo footbridge-built at the cost of Tk 150,000 by locals-failed to alleviate the hardships of 20,000 people currently residing in different villages of the Union. Pedestrians, especially school-going children are taking a risk crossing the lean bridge. As vehicles are unable to cross, farm products could not be transported in bulks and it raises the costs of villagers.

Residents of Paton, Phulmalik, Ghagua, and other villages uses the makeshift bridge every day and locals say women and the elderly suffer the most during monsoon. The footbridge sustains damage from strong currents of the canal in the season. After the bridge was seriously damaged in the 2022 floods, villagers rebuild it in 2024.

Three years ago, a proposal to construct a concrete bridge was submitted to the LGED office in Dhaka under a government project of constructing under-100m-long bridges at the upazilas, union and villages. Upazila Engineer Deepak Kumar Das, upazila engineer, LGED, said three to four months ago another project proposal for the bridge-along with proposals for other projects of the upazila-was sent for the LGED office in Dhaka, via the Sylhet district LGED office.Engineer Deepak said once they receive approval for the project, work could commence through tendering. Responding to a question regarding the proposal that was sent three years ago, Deepak said that he was not at office that time.

Meanwhile, locals formed an 18-member body, called the Bridge Implementation Committee, with Mohammad Shabuddin, CEO & MD of Beanibazar Cancer & General Hospital, as its head. Some prominent locals, who are members of the committee, said they are working on the issue.

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