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Published : 05 Jul 2024, 07:51 AM
The Shitalakkhya River, flowing through Narayanganj and separating the Sadar Upazila and the Bandar Upazila, plays an important role in the connectivity to the district. Thousands of people travel every day to and from the Upazilas, but they do not have a bridge.
The Narayanganj City Corporation took the initiative to build the Kadamrasul Bridge at the jetty No. 5 area in 2018 to meet public demand.
The construction of the bridge has yet to start because of a range of issues even after six years, while the project cost rose 28 percent.
NCC said recently there was significant progress in the project work. They already reached the final stage of employing a contractor company and officials hoped the construction work would begin soon.
Two bridges are already there over the Shitalakhya River at both ends, but they do not bring any convenience to the people living near the middle area of the river.
The Third Shitalakhya Bridge at Madanganj is at least three kilometres away from the Central Jetty in Bandar Upazila. It takes another three kilometres to reach the city centre after crossing that bridge.
On the other hand, the Kanchpur Bridge, built to connect the Dhaka-Chattogram and Dhaka-Sylhet highways, is 15 kilometres away from the Central Jetty.
Once the Kadamrasul Bridge is built, there will be a two-minute distance between the Sadar and Bandar Upazilas.
Since there is no bridge, people from both Upazilas cross the river by boat at four jetties to meet their daily personal and professional necessities. Sometimes, especially during the monsoon, people face accidents while crossing the river.
A WAIT OF TWO DECADES
Two decades ago, the BNP government took a project to build a bridge at Nabiganj to ease the travelling for the people living on both banks of the Sihtalakkhya River. But it never saw the light.
Then six years ago, the Kadamrasul Bridge Construction Project was initiated, creating much hope and enthusiasm among the people on both banks. Now, they lost hope as the construction did not begin after a long time.
“‘There’ll be a bridge, there’ll be a bridge’ - was all I heard until my hair greyed. But the bridge was never constructed,” said Md Kabir, 55, a tea stall owner by the Shitalakkhya River.
“Everyone promises a bridge when an election approaches. But we never saw one. There’s one at Madanganj but it’s not convenient for us. We have to detour a lot in case we want to cross the river by that bridge.”
Locals said their plight was never reduced since the bridge they wanted was never built. Residents of Bandar Upazila suffered the most. Thousands of them travel to the city crossing the river while risking their lives to earn their living. Boats are their only means to cross the busy river route of Shitalakkhya.
The worst happens when someone falls sick at night. As there are no government or private hospitals with good facilities, they depend on two government hospitals in Narayanganj city.
But it is quite troublesome to reach the hospitals as boats are not available at the jetty after midnight. Getting a boat at that time is not easy at all.
Jahangir Mridha, a 65-year-old autorickshaw driver shared an experience. He said he was called when a woman in his neighbourhood of Kalagachhia went into labour around 2am. When they carried her in his autorickshaw and reached the jetty, there was no boat.
“It took us 45 minutes to detour a few kilometres and reach Narayanganj General Hospital crossing the river by the Third Shitalakhhya Bridge.”
A bridge near the Central Jetty could allow people to cross the river in two minutes, Jahangir said. “This is the time when patients face troubles.”
A DAILY NEED
The Third Shitalakkhya Bridge was open to traffic on Oct 10, 2022. This bridge was named after the late Narayanganj-5 MP AKM Nasim Osman.
Although the bridge connects Sadar and Bandar Upazilas, it is not convenient for the people living on both banks of the Shitalakkhya River in their daily travel, locals said.
The bridge is situated quite a few kilometres away from the central area on both banks, they said. Hence, it was inconvenient for those who commute to work every day crossing the river.
“The Kadamrasul Bridge will connect both cities when it becomes visible. The Third Shitalakkhya Bridge has indeed connected Chattogram and the south-western districts. But people living on both banks of the river need a bridge to ease their travel trouble,” said Zahirul Islam, joint general secretary of the Narayanganj Nagorik Committee, who also lives in Bandar Upazila.
He is worried about the delay in commencing the construction work of the bridge, adding that the government agencies should work harder on the issue. “They are paid to serve the people but sometimes, they become hindrances to such projects that are helpful for the public. Besides, political conflict is another reason behind the delay in building this bridge.”
Aklima Hossain works in a private company in Dhaka and lives in Ward No. 21 of Narayanganj City Corporation on the eastern bank of the Shitalakkhya River. She commutes every day crossing the river by boat but finds it quite risky.
“Shitalakkhya is a very busy river route. Most of the time launches, ships, and bulkheads ply in the river. High waves are seen during the monsoon. Sometimes a ship comes quite near the boat and we somehow escape an accident,” she said.
“Working people crowd the boats in the morning and evening. We commute everyday with such risks.”
At least nine wards of the NCC are situated on the eastern bank of the river, but those are not economically developed like the wards in the city, said Ward Councillor Abul Kawser of Ward No. 23 (Kadamrasul area).
”For example, we have grocery stores in my area, while Narayanganj City has departmental stores. This difference is there. But people living in our area pay equal amounts of holding tax and others,” he said.
He said an area develops economically and socially when its connectivity becomes better. The city and the Bandar will be connected better when the Kadamrasul Bridge is built, he said. Especially, it would be very convenient for people living in Bandar Upazila.
“We need to use a ferry to carry anything from the Fire Service or the City Corporation. Or else they have to detour and use the Nasim Osman Bridge. I hope that all conflicts regarding the bridge are over and soon the bridge will be visible.”
THE PLANNING FOR THE BRIDGE
In 2016, Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy promised to build a bridge in the middle area of the city to ease the plight of the voters before the second phase of the election in the Narayanganj City Corporation.
Once elected, Ivy took the initiative to realise her promise and the NCC drafted a plan to build a 1,385-metre bridge over the Shitalakkhya River with 3.50 kilometres of service road in 2017.
The bridge would connect Bandar Upazila's Ekrampur with Gudaraghat No.5 in the city.
At least nine wards of NCC are situated in the Kadamrasul area on the eastern bank of the river. The bridge would ease the travelling for the people living in Bandar, Sonakanda, Nabiganj, Farazikanda, Shahi Masjid, and Sholperchawk.
As per the plan, the bridge would stretch from Ward No.23 in Kadamrasul to Jetty No. 5 over the river and end near the Narayanganj College on Nawab Sirajuddoula Road.
It was named after the traditional Kadamrasul Dargah in the Bandar Upazila.
The ECNEC allotted NCC a Tk 5.9 billion budget for the bridge on Oct 9, 2018. The project deadline was June 2022.
“Different government bodies and private organisations began to hinder the Kadamrasul Bridge Project. The project deadline was over by the time all complications were settled. Even the authorities had to change the design,” said Abdul Aziz, an engineer in the NCC.
PROBLEMS
According to the NCC, the lands owned by Bangladesh Railway and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority were one of the reasons behind the delay in constructing the Kadamrasul Bridge. Also, there was some complication regarding the acquisition of the land owned by the food ministry.
A part of a land owned by Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal (BD) Limited was another trouble for the project. Local water transport owners and labour leaders had some objections as well.
The project needed to use those lands while the Kumudini Welfare Trust planned to build its own terminal at their land on the Shitalakkhya bank. They disagreed to leave the land they got leased from Bangladesh Railway for the bridge.
Local water transport owners and labour leaders also raised objections saying a pillar shown in the design of the bridge would cause inconvenience for the goods- carrying vessels as it fell on in the tributary canal of Shitalakkhya.
A new bridge design was drafted, spending Tk 10 million. Also, the Bangladesh Railway signed an agreement with the NCC regarding the lands. The food ministry agreed to let go of a piece of land bartering with the same size of land inside the city.
However, the project cost rose up 28 percent though other issues were resolved. The budget now stands at Tk 7.35 billion. The new deadline is June 2026.
SOLUTION
Engineer Abdul Aziz of the NCC said all hindrances in constructing the Kadamrasul Bridge were removed. The final design was approved as well. The Local Government Engineering Department already floated tenders to build the bridge.
"We couldn't start the construction despite employing a contractor due to many issues. We had to wait. Now we have reached the final stage and hopefully will start the construction this year," said Md Ahsanuzzaman, executive engineer in LGED Narayanganj office.
[ Writing in English by Sabrina Karim Murshed. Editing by Osham-ul-Sufian Talukder]
