Md Abdul Alim, Shailkupa (Jhenaidah)

The Langalbandh Garai Bridge is being constructed over the Garai river on the Langalbandh GC road of Naduria of Pangsha Upazila and Shailkupa upazila.

It is a 650-m long PSC girder bridge. If the bridge is built, the people of seven districts will be connected through Rajbari district.

The districts are Jhenaidah, Narail, Jessore, Satkhira, Magura, Khulna and Rajbari.

The suffering of the people of this region will be reduced in traveling to different districts including Dhaka. If the bridge is opened, the journey of the passengers of these districts will be reduced about 50 to 60 km. Along with that, both time and money will be saved. However, the slowness of the work has added to the frustration of the passengers of this route.

The work on the bridge started on June 3, 2020 but about no work has been done. The budget of the bridge is 63 crore 91 lakh 68 thousand 170 taka. A contractor named MM Builders and Engineering Ltd. of Gulshan, Dhaka is implementing the construction work of the bridge.

Many people are not satisfied with the work speed of the bridge. Locals are repeatedly expressing their frustration through various media including Facebook. I went to the surface and found that nothing much was done except for the welding of a few pillers and girders. There is no pattern of connecting roads on either side of the bridge.

Farmers are cultivating crops on both sides of the bridge. Even if the bridge is opened, vehicles cannot move as there is no road on either side. Mubarak Molla working in Uttarai said it is good to dream but when will our dreams be fulfilled? Akkas, a civil servant, said, how much longer?

Rajbari district politician Sekender Ali said, how many more years will it take? Local Tipu Sultan said, waiting for a long time.

Rabbi Hasan, a student of the European University, quipped that it will take 10,000 years. Islamic University student Mehdi Hasan Rumi said it will take at least another six years.