People of 3 upazilas suffer as bypass under water

Thousands of people of three upazilas are suffering as a bypass road of an under- construction bridge has gone under water. All kinds of vehicles, including buses, are crossing the bypass at great risk.

An official of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Patuakhali said LGED is constructing a 26-metre-long girder bridge on Chankhar canal at Lohalia village on Patuakhali-Dashmina road via Baufal upazila at a cost of Tk 1.35 crore. The new bridge will replace the old RCC bridge.

LGED issued work order on February 17 this year. M/s Akhtaruzzaman, a construction firm, is constructing the bridge. LGED has asked the firm to complete the work of the bridge within a year, a source said.

LGED also allocated Tk 9 lakh to build a bypass road to resume vehicular movement on the road as thousands of people of three upazilas -- Patuahkali Sadar, Dashmina, Baufal -- use the road to communicate with district and upazila towns.

Samsul Islam, an autorickshaw driver, said, "We have to cross the bypass taking risk. Passengers have to get down from the autorickshaw on the bypass road." Pedestrians face trouble in crossing the bypass road, he added.

Akhtaruzzaman, contractor of the firm, said, "We will take steps to remove the problems."

Abu Saleh Md Hanif, executive engineer of LGED, said, "We are taking immediate steps to repair the bypass road to restore communication over it."