Using bamboo instead of rods in bridge construction in Basail Upazila alleged
Tangail Correspondent
The contractor has been accused of welding bamboo instead of rods in the dark of night on a bridge built at a cost of 109.92 crore taka in Basail, Tangail. A video of the bridge being welded with bamboo instead of rods has gone viral on social media. It has created a storm of criticism.
Basail UNO Md. Iqbal Hossain confirmed the incident after conducting an on-site inspection on Monday afternoon. The incident has sparked anger and concern among the locals.
Locals said that since the construction of the bridge in Maijkhara Moragangi of Basail Municipality began, daytime work was being done in the dark of night. When they suspected this, they secretly observed the construction work. At one stage at night, they saw the use of bamboo instead of rods in the bridge work. The locals have demanded an investigation and legal action against those involved in this incident.
According to the Upazila Engineer's Office, the contractor company named Messrs. Yunus Al Mamun-Ms. Zakir has been awarded the work of reconstructing a 90.06-meter-long girder bridge on the Basail GC-Kauljani UP Office via Maijkhara GPS road under Basail Upazila. The work of this bridge, built at a cost of 10 crore 9 lakh 92 thousand taka, began in September 2022 and was supposed to be completed in February 2024. Later, the work period of this bridge was extended. Although 80 percent of the work of this bridge has been completed, 20 percent work is left.
Local resident Shihab Khanshur said, "The bridge that is being built inside our Maijkhara is being made of bamboo. Where did the money that the government gave go? And there is so much corruption going on in our bridge! There may be more local people involved with this contractor. Otherwise, the contractor would not have the courage to come to this place and make a bridge out of bamboo. We want a fair investigation and justice."
Local resident Aziz Mia said, "The bridge will be built during the day, but they are working at night. At night, local boys are working on the bridge and pouring bamboo. They are just pouring some sand, cement and bamboo."
Shariful Islam, the supervisor of the contractor, said, "You don't have a chance to take out the shutters inside these gaps that are open. We worked with shutters inside the big ones, and we took those out through this gap. And we made this one with bamboo slabs and welded a cage with a sack of cement on top."
Basail Upazila Assistant Engineer Moniruzzaman said, "We have found the truth about the use of bamboo instead of rods in the construction of the bridge. However, the Upazila Engineering Department will not take responsibility for this work. This is the work of the District Engineering Department. The matter will be reported to the District Engineer and necessary measures will be recommended."
Basail UNO Md. Iqbal Hossain said, "After being informed about the matter, I inspected the bridge on the spot. I have confirmed that bamboo has been used instead of rods. A quick investigation committee will be formed in this regard and legal action will be taken through the concerned department."
