The construction of the bridge over Narail's Navaganga river is going on at a snail's pace

 

Ujjal Ray

Narail district representative

The construction of the bridge over Narail's Navaganga river is going on at a snail's pace. The construction work of Kalia Baripara bridge over Navganga river is going on at a snail's pace at Baripara of Kaliya upazila in Narail. The construction of the bridge was supposed to be completed in two and a half years, but the work was not completed even in six years after the time was repeatedly extended. The cost of construction has also doubled due to design flaws in the bridge towards the end of the construction work. People traveling on this road are angry about it.

However, the Roads and Highways Department says that the rest of the bridge construction work will be completed soon. Ujjwal Roy, district representative from Narail said that according to the relevant sources, Navganga river has separated Kalia upazila city and 8 unions from Narail district city. As a result, the people of Kalia upazila have to suffer a lot in communication. To reduce that suffering, the road and highway department started the construction of a bridge in 2017 at Baripara Kheyaghat of the upazila. The cost of construction of Baripara Bridge, 651.83 meters long and 10.25 meters wide, over Naganga River at the 21st kilometer of Narail-Kalia road was estimated at Tk 65 crore. The contractor of Jessore got the job of building the bridge. Moinuddin Basi and Md. Jamil Iqbal. According to the work order, the work was supposed to be completed in June 2019, but the progress of the work was only 23 percent at the end of the specified period.

Later, the time was extended three more times but the contractor could not complete the work. At the last time i.e. 4th time extension time the design complications. Some parts of the roof of the bridge can be seen after the completion of the construction work. Later the new design was approved for the construction of the bridge by changing the design and raising it. This increases the cost by about 60 crore rupees. Time and money have increased in several stages and now the cost has reached 135 crore 92 lakh taka. If the bridge is constructed, 8 unions of Kalia upazila will be directly connected with Narail district city by road. As a result, their suffering will be reduced. However, the locals are angry with the slowness of the bridge construction. They are urged to finish the work quickly.

Jilhaj Khan, a resident of Par-Bishnupur village of Kalia upazila, said, "We have to stand for hours for Kheya Par." Many times boats are not available at night. There is no end to our suffering. Our only request to the Prime Minister is to complete the construction of the bridge as soon as possible.

Rain Fatema, a college student from Noagram area of ​​the upazila, said that thousands of people from different regions pass through this ghat every day. Sometimes it is available, sometimes it is not. The ghats are not good, the bridge is not even passable. It is difficult to go to school and college. If a patient is sick, it is not possible to take him to the hospital quickly. Fire service vehicles cannot come in case of fire. By the time the fire service vehicles arrived across the ferry, everything was engulfed in flames. We are in dire straits. I am drawing the attention of the authorities to make the bridge fast.

In this regard, the executive engineer of Narail road and highway department said. Nazrul Islam said that a separate tender has been made due to design changes. The tender is live. Our work is ongoing. Hope to complete all work by June 30, 2025.