Saidul Islam Montu, Betagi (Barguna)

For the past five years, the Domrabad-Jalisha connecting bridge over the river Behringradhan in Betagi, a coastal town of Barguna, and Mirzaganj in Patuakhali district has been collapsed , causing extreme suffering to the people of the two upazilas and no one is paying any attention to this matter.

According to LGED sources, the Domrabad-Jalisha connecting bridge was built on April 7, 2006, to facilitate the movement of people of the two upazilas.

On the west bank of the bridge, Jalisha in Betagi upazila of Barguna is adjacent, and on the east bank, Mirzaganj upazila of Patuakhali.

For the past 14 years, 2,000 people from Hosnabad, Jalisha in the upazila, and Domrabad, North Amragachia and Middle Amragachia areas on the other side, have been traveling through this iron bridge every day. But at one point, on the night of January 21, 2020, the bridge collapsed after being hit by a cargo trawler. At that time, 3 people, including the trawler men were seriously injured.

Since then, the people of the two upazilas have been suffering immensely in their transportation for the past 4 years. Specially, people of various professions, including teachers, students, businessmen, and farmers, are facing extreme hardship in crossing the river. And if there are emergency patients, they have to take many detours to and from the hospital. Due to the lack of alternative arrangements, pedestrians have to walk 4-5 kilometers longer, and due to the lack of repairs for a long time, the communication system here has been isolated day by day.

It has been seen on the ground that the broken parts of the ridges on the east and west banks of the Bareyrodhan River are lying in the river. As a result, the communication system on this route has been closed since the bridge collapsed. Locals said that due to the lack of a bridge over the river, students in the two upazilas are facing extreme hardship in their transportation to the market ghats and farmers' fields.

Locals said that if a seriously ill or dying patient from a remote village needs to be urgently taken to the hospital, they have to travel about 8-10 kilometers to get to the hospital for treatment. Many times, patients face extreme danger while traveling this route. However, if the bridge here was passable, it would have been possible to take the patient to the hospital much more easily and quickly.

Ali Hossain, a farmer from Hosnabad village in Betagi upazila, said, "Despite the fact that Subidkhali market is close to here, we are not able to take our rice, vegetables and other crops to the market on time due to the lack of communication system. As a result, we are being deprived of fair prices."

Md. Firoz Alam, headmaster of Doklakhali Government Primary School adjacent to the bridge, said that the number of students in his school is decreasing day by day due to the broken bridge. Many students from that side are unable to travel. Initially, students used to cross the river by canoe, but it was risky, so they did not come to school regularly.

Altaf Hossain Farazi, Chairman (Acting) of Hosnabad Union of the upazila, said that in 2020, the bridge was hit by a goods-laden trawler and twisted towards the west and fell into the river. Since then, the bridge has been broken and communication here has been cut off. Unfortunately, despite informing the concerned authorities, the authorities are not taking any initiative to repair it.

When asked, Betagi Upazila Engineer Sheikh Toufiq Aziz said, "Although the bridge is on the border of two upazilas, since the Mirzaganj LGED built the bridge earlier. As a result, if the bridge is to be constructed, the Mirzaganj LGED should take it through the tender process and complete the work as soon as possible, considering the suffering of the people." However, if they want any cooperation, we will try our best.

Mirzaganj Upazila Engineer Chandan Kumar Chakraborty said that soil testing has already been done for the construction of a new bridge in the Domrabad area of the upazila. We are trying to take up the tender process as soon as possible. Once the tender process is completed, the construction of the bridge will start at that place.