Md.Based Panchagarh Correspondent: Due to the delayed completion of the Umesh Danga Bridge project over the Khakhari River in Debiganj, Panchagarh, residents are having a very tough time moving around.

According to information from the Debiganj Upazila Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), a 90-meter-long PC girder bridge has been designated for construction over the Khakhari River in the Umesh Danga area of Sonahar Mallikadaha Union during the 2023-24 fiscal year. The estimated cost for the bridge’s construction is 6 crore 30 lakh 47 thousand 484 taka.

The contractor, Mohammad Yunus and Brothers Limited, based in the Nasirabad area of Chittagong, is tasked with the construction. Work commenced on October 18, 2023, with an expected completion date of February 24, 2025. However, despite two months passing since the deadline, the construction of the pillars remains unfinished. Currently, three out of the four pillars have been completed, and the lack of progress on the remaining pillar has stalled the construction of the bridge’s main structure. Additionally, the upper rod of the welded section of the pillar has begun to rust.

Local college students Md. Mamun Islam, Golam Rabbani, and van driver Abdul Hakim reported that approximately ten thousand individuals cross the Kharkhari River daily from Wards 4, 7, 8, and 9 of Sonahar Union, as well as from Badsha Bazar and Bhabaniganj areas of the neighboring Dinajpur’s Khansama Upazila. This route is the only convenient access to the Union Parishad, hospital, and Upazila Sadar. Furthermore, hundreds of students traverse this river daily to attend school. Previously, a bamboo bridge existed over the river, but the contractor dismantled it prior to the bridge’s construction. Consequently, locals are currently forced to cross the river at their own risk. If the bridge’s construction is not completed before the next monsoon, the difficulties faced by the community will intensify.

Arif Islam, a representative of the contracting company ‘Mohammad Yunus and Brothers Limited’, said, I came here 15 days ago. I don’t know anything about what happened here before.

In this regard, Debiganj Upazila Engineer, Md. Shahriar Islam Shakil, said on his mobile phone that the bridge construction time has been extended in view of the contractor’s application. The work of casting the bridge piers is going on regularly