About 15 thousand people of ten villages of Mohanganj union under Rajibpur upazil are facing problems while going to the upazila headquarters as Kolkihara Bridge on Mohanganj-Rajibpur road collapsed, only three months after its construction.
“We have to walk a long way as no vehicles ply the road because of the broken bridge. We have to use alternative road to reach upazila headquarters,” said Joyen Uddin of Kolkihara village.
Construction work of the 33-feet-long and 14-feet-wide bridge across the dying river Kolkihara started in January this year and completed in June, said locals. Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation arranged the construction of the bridge at a cost of Tk 18.65 lakh.
The bridge partially collapsed within a month after construction as floodwater hit the area. It fully collapsed in September due to the second phase of flood. The second flood washed away soil from the approach roads on both sides of the bridge, said Ali Akbar, a villager.
Locals alleged that the contractor did not properly fill up the approach sections of the bridge with soil. Even a ditch beside the bridge was not filled up.
However, contractor Mahabubur Rahman claimed that the construction work of the bridge was completed as per schedule. But due to heavy rain and early floods, they could not fill up the Approach sections with soil.
In the recent flood, water washed away the soil from underneath the bridge and that caused the collapse, he added.
Md Shakawat Hossain, project implementation officer (PIO) of the upazila, claimed the construction work of the bridge was done according to the schedule but the construction of its connecting parts remained incomplete.
The construction work was done under the rural infrastructure development project. There was no soil test system under the project, the PIO added.
“I would not have permitted the authorities concerned to conduct the construction work of the bridge if the soil test report was provided earlier, said Rajibpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Abdul Kader, adding that the decision of constructing the bridge was taken considering the importance of the area.
A five-member inquiry committee has been formed on October 6 to investigate the incident with upazila vice-chairman as convener, he said.
Although the probe body was supposed to submit its report on November 6, it got one month more as it could not complete inquiry in the bridge area due to increase in the water level in Kolkihara river, the UNO added.
The other members of the committee are upazila engineer, upazila health engineer, PIO and the concerned UP chairman.
