Crore-Taka Bridge Stuck at Guide Walls on Fatikchhari's Telparai Canal, Locals Cross by Bamboo Bridge

Two guide walls stand on the two banks of the canal. Rusted iron rods and other construction materials lie beside them. Local people cross the canal on a bamboo bridge built next to them. This is the scene at the Telparai canal in the Damdama area of Lelang Union in Fatikchhari, Chattogram.

An initiative to build a bridge over the Telparai canal was taken three and a half years ago. The contracting firm Messrs King Corporation got the work. But so far only two guide walls have been built on the canal. The contractor could not finish the bridge despite two extensions of the deadline. For this, the Upazila Project Implementation Officer's (PIO) office has issued three show-cause notices to the firm. Work is still stopped, and it is uncertain when construction will resume.

Local resident Abul Hashem said local people build the bamboo bridge with their own money every time, but as it is a hilly canal, the bridge breaks every year. Locals had long demanded a permanent bridge to reduce the suffering of crossing the canal. The bridge construction finally began but has not been finished to this day. The unfinished work has doubled the suffering of local people, he said.

Abu Ahmad, a farmer of Indillar Char in the same area, said, "After building two pillars (guide walls) about a year and a half ago, the contractor never came back to work. I don't even know whether the contractor is alive or dead. If he were alive, he would have come to work."

Local resident Md Zakir Hossain said, "If the PIO office had taken the locals' suffering seriously and pressed the contractor more strongly, the work would have been finished long ago. There is negligence on the part of both the contractor and the PIO office."

According to PIO office sources, the initiative to build a 15-metre-long bridge over the Telparai canal was taken in the 2022-23 fiscal year. An allocation of Tk 1 crore 7 lakh 36 thousand was given for this. The work was supposed to start in June 2023 but it started in June 2024. Later the deadline was extended twice, in 2025 and 2026. Even then the contracting firm could not finish the work within the stipulated time.

The progress of the bridge construction is 60 percent. So far the contracting firm has withdrawn about Tk 66 lakh.

Lelang Union Parishad Chairman Sarwar Uddin Chowdhury Shahin said, "The people of the Damdama area have been suffering to cross the canal for a long time. After much lobbying, the bridge construction began. But due to extreme negligence of the contractor, the bridge work has remained unfinished for years. The contractor has assured that he will finish the construction soon."

Messrs King Corporation owner Md Ershad said, "Construction work will resume within the next few days and the bridge will be completed in the fastest possible time."

Upazila Project Implementation Officer (PIO) Md Abu Naser said the work order and the project tenure for the bridge have already ended. If the project tenure is extended, the work order tenure may also be extended. The contractor has already been issued three show-cause notices for not finishing the work.