Floodwater washes away two important bridges in Tangail

Road communication between Basail and Kalihati upazila has remained suspended since a bridge on the Jhenai river in Basail upazila collapsed on Monday due to heavy pressure of floodwater.

Locals said, although the bridge in Dapnazar area was declared risky long ago, pedestrians and light vehicles used to ply through the vulnerable bridge till it collapsed on Monday noon.

Due to the bridge collapse now people have to use alternative way to go to their destinations including the district headquarter.

Villagers said a span in the middle of the vulnerable bridge suddenly collapsed due to heavy pressure of water around 12:00noon. 

According to Tangail Water Development the Jhenai river, a branch of the Jamuna, was flowing 89 centimetre above the danger level on Monday.  

Rozdid Ahmed, upazila engineer of Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) in Basail, said the bridge, constructed in 1998, was declared risky long ago.

Meanwhile, people of at least 30 villages in the same upazila have been suffering immensely since a concrete bridge on Basail-Natiapara road washed away by floodwater last Thursday.

Basail LGED Upazila Engineer Rozdid Ahmmed said the 11.5-meter-long bridge in Chhonkapara area in the upazila collapsed due to onrush of floodwater, disrupting road communication between Basail and part of adjacent Mirzapur upazila.

Kanchanpur Union Parishad Chairman Mamun-or-Rashid said the bridge was in dilapidated condition for long and people of at least 30 villages used to go to their destination using the vulnerable bridge.

As a result, thousands of inhabitant of nearby villages suffering a lot as vehicular movement on Basail-Natiapara road remained suspended since the bridge collapsed.

Due to the situation, local people have to cover a long distance to go to their desired destination, villagers said.

The bridge, constructed under a project of CARE Bangladesh in 1999, was in a dilapidated condition for long, he said, adding that they have informed their higher authorities about the collapsed bridge.

Besides, proposal to construct a new bridge on the same spot was also sent to the authorities concerned earlier, the engineer further said.