Riverbed turns accident-prone for pillars of an abandoned bridge

SHARIATPUR, Mar 17: Pillars of an old bridge have not been removed from the Kirtinasha River in Angaria union of Shariatpur Sadar upazila even eight years after construction of a new bridge making travelling too much risky along the waterway stretch.

For the situation, the bottom of the submerged pillars is occasionally bursting and sinking cargo vessels.

At least 40 cargo vessels have met accidents in the last eight years. The victims claim that they have suffered losses of several crores of taka. Locals complain that despite such incidents happening repeatedly, the department concerned has not yet taken any visible effective initiative to remove the old pillars.

Local and road department sources said that the Kirtinasha River, a tributary of the Padma, flows through Shariatpur. Ships from the southwestern region use this river to enter the Padma and travel towards Dhaka, Narayanganj and Chandpur.

The Madaripur-Shariatpur regional highway connects the river to the Angaria area of Sadar upazila through a bridge.

A Bailey bridge had been at that location from the beginning. Due to road expansion work and the Bailey bridge becoming old, the Roads and Highways Department started construction of a new 75-metre-long bridge at a cost of Tk 107.5 million in 2015 through a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project.

After three years of work, the bridge was opened for traffic in 2018. However, although the new bridge was commissioned, the pillars of the old Bailey bridge were not removed.

This increased the risk of accidents on the riverbed several times. In the past few years, at least 40 boats have been involved in accidents at this location alone. This has caused losses of several crores of taka. The locals are demanding that the old pillars, which are under water, be cut and removed as soon as possible. Otherwise, the locals have warned that the riverbed will be closed.

A local resident named Billal Mollah said after the construction of the new bridge, the contractor concerned did not remove the pillars of the old bridge. These old pillars are constantly causing accidents due to the bottom of the vessels.

"Every year, goods worth five to six crore taka get damaged due to sinking of vessels. We demand that arrangements be made to remove these old pillars very quickly. Otherwise, we will be forced to close this waterway," Billal added.

Another local resident named Mohammad Shahed said many ships from South Bengal navigate through the Kirtinasha River in Shariatpur. And an accident occurs every week under the Angaria Bridge on this river. So that the government should remove the old pillars very quickly.

The day before yesterday, a large cargo vessel named Ma-Babar Doa set off from Dakop in Khulna for Madanpur in Narayanganj with three thousand sacks of paddy. When the boat reached the bottom of the Angaria Bridge on the Kirtinasha River in Shariatpur, it hit an old pillar below and before it could rise, the bottom suddenly burst and water started entering.

As a result, the boat sank in the water with paddy worth about Tk 11 million. Although some of the paddy was lifted with the help of another boat, most of the paddy sacks are now underwater.

Alleging negligence on the part of the local authorities in this incident, the affected businessman and boat owner has sought compensation from the government.

The affected businessman, Mukul Sheikh, said, "I had bought paddy from Khulna and sent it by ship to sell in Narayanganj.

Later, it hit an old pillar below the bridge in the Angaria area of Shariatpur and sank. I had goods worth 1.1 crore taka in the ship. Although some goods were lifted, most of the goods are still underwater. I have suffered a major loss." Stating that the matter has not escaped the attention of the district administration, Deputy Commissioner Tahsina Begum said that the Roads and Highways Department has been asked to remove the pillars.

She said, "I have seen that several accidents have taken place at that place in the past. Only because of the old ruins of the bridge.

The matter was discussed in our coordination meeting. We have already instructed the Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department to remove the pillars."

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