Heavy vehicles use risky bridge ignoring warning sign

Trucks carrying 30-40 tonnes regularly cross Ananda Babur Pool, a rundown iron bridge over the Bamondanga River on Nilphamari-Jaldhaka road at Sabujpara in Nilphamari municipality, posing the risk of serious accident anytime.

This road connecting Jaldhaka, Kishoreganj and part of Dimla upazila with Nilphamari district town has also link with Burimari land port and divisional town of Rangpur and about 10,000 people and 2,000 vehicles of different sizes daily cross the narrow bridge amid high risk, said local ward councillor Golam Kibria.

"Whenever any loaded truck passes, the bridge begins jerking with a horrifying sound. Often traffic jam is created on both sides as only one big vehicle can cross it at a time, that too very slowly," said Abdur Rahman, owner of a restaurant adjacent to the north end of the bridge.

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) hung signboards on both ends of the bridge, forbidding plying of vehicles over five tonnes there but big vehicles carrying even 30-40 tonnes cross it regularly, he said.

A few months ago, a schoolgirl fell into the river from the narrow bridge as it jerked violently due to crossing of a 10-wheeler truck laden with stones, said Ali Ahmed, a local charcoal trader.

She was luckily rescued by a few locals, he added.

By this time, quite a few accidents occurred on the bridge, causing death to several people.

"Fear grips me while crossing the risky bridge," said truck driver Ibrahim Khalil, who regularly passes the road with bags of paddy for rice mills.

Shamsul Islam, general secretary of Nilphamari district bus, minibus owners group, said he had drawn attention of the RHD to take immediate step to replace the vulnerable bridge but to no effect yet.

Tanvir Siddiquee, executive engineer of RHD in Nilphamari, said, "We hung signboards on both ends of the risky bridge asking trucks not to carry over five tonnes through it. The RHD is going to start a project for widening of Nilphamari-Jaldhaka road and replace the vulnerable steel bridge with a concrete one."