Tk 120 Million, Zero Water: The Bridge to Nowhere

Rows of houses and farmland stretch in every direction. There is no river, no canal, no pond and not even a minimmum flow of water. Even though there is a small ditch on one side, construction of a massive bridge is underway day and night.

Local residents are astonished to see such a huge bridge being built on dry land without any water body. Though it seems unrealistic and bizarre, the Faridpur Road Division, through contractors, is bringing this "land bridge" to life in Nagarkanda Upazila, Faridpur.

The bridge is being built at a place called Kalikhola in Ramnagar Union, Nagarkanda Upazila, along the Goalanda-Tarail regional road. It is learned that the bridge, which is 44 meters long and 32 meters wide, is estimated to cost around 120 million taka (12 crore). The project is being implemented by the Road Division under the financing of the government's Local Government Division. Piling work on the bridge has already begun. The field-level work is being carried out by a contracting firm named Avron Traders Limited, owned by Md. Majed Sheikh.

At one time, a flowing canal named the Gopalpur Branch Canal, which originated from the Bhubaneshwar River, used to flow through this location. Back then, LGED built a small bridge—36 meters long and 12 feet wide—for crossing over the canal. But over time, houses have been built on both sides of the canal. Today, no trace of that canal remains; it has completely disappeared.

Most of the existing small and large bridges along various points of the regional road no longer exist. Considering them unnecessary, those bridges have been leveled and turned into roads. But even though there is no canal at Kalikhola, why a massive new bridge is being built at a cost of 120 million taka has left locals both angry and bewildered.

Local resident Fazlul Haque expressed his anger, saying, "We know that a bridge means a connection between two banks over a water body. But here, there is no question of a bridge—there is nothing except houses all around. People have settled on both sides. There was no need for a bridge here. The government's huge amount of money is being wasted."

Another local resident, Md. Tara Pramanik, said, "There was indeed a time when a bridge was badly needed here, but due to the passage of time, it is no longer necessary. It's like putting the cart before the horse."

According to locals, if this bridge were also demolished and turned into a road like the others, a huge amount of government money would not have been embezzled.

The chairman of Ramnagar Union Parishad, Md. Kaimuddin Mondal, commented, "When the canal existed, a bridge was needed there. Over time, there is no longer any canal at that spot. But why the government is building a new bridge here again is beyond my understanding. More extensive surveys should have been conducted before taking on such projects. A huge amount of government money is being spent unnecessarily."

The site engineer in charge of the bridge construction area, Babu Hossain, confirmed the construction of the 44-meter bridge but refused to comment on why this unnecessary bridge is being built here.

When asked why the bridge is being constructed despite the absence of any river, stream, or canal, the Sub-Assistant Engineer of the Faridpur Road Division responsible for the area, Md. Jahangir, tried to avoid answering. Citing a bizarre government rule, he said, "From earlier times, there was a bridge at this location. That is why we prepared a report accordingly and sent it to Dhaka, after which the project was approved. Since there was previously a bridge at this site according to the documents, we have to show a bridge in our new report as well. The fact that there is no longer any need for a bridge at that location — we cannot write that in the file."

Trapped in this strange bureaucratic loophole and the maze of official rules, a massive bridge costing 120 million taka is rising on dry land in the absence of any canal, leaving local residents simply scratching their heads.