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Old bridges in Gazipur become bottlenecks, traffic congestion on the rise


Published : 08 Mar 2023 08:38 PM

Two bridges, which were constructed over Turag River in Kaliakair and Saidpur Madrasapara areas of Kaliakair Upazila of Gazipur, now become a thorn in the neck of the locals. These two narrow bridges are always congested. If the vehicle enters from one side, the vehicle from the other pass has to stand. It creates long traffic jams. As a result, locals from about 20 villages in the area are in a crisis.

Looking at the surface, it can be seen that the upazila of Kaliakair has been transformed from a village to a city day by day, but some villages have not yet been touched by development. The bridges are standing with the traditional structure of the old days. Roads, highways, are not yet well-developed. Ordinary people are walking through the old bridges. The country has gone digital. Work is underway to make it smarter. But many villages in Kaliakor are still suffering due to age-old communication.

Two such villages are Tan-Kaliakair and Saidpur. Tan-Kaliakoir village is very close to the upazila and Kalikoir town. Kaliakor can be called the zero point of the city.  The government at that time built a bridge over the Kaliakair to Tan-Kaliakair Turag River for public welfare. Which was useful for the time, but now that bridge is a thorn in the neck. People move to and from Tan-Kaliakair, Lalteki, Pirer Teki, Janur Chala, Chhota Latifpur, Latifpur through this bridge. Besides, the people living in Kaliakor Bazar, 10-12 schools including Kaliakair Pilot Girls High School, Afaz Uddin Memorial School and College, thousands of kindergarten teachers and students travel through this bridge. Those who are constantly traveling through those bridges through extreme suffering. Due to this problem, no medium and large vehicles including private cars, small jeeps can travel through those bridges. All the same there is a traffic jam. For this reason, people do not want any rickshaw, auto to travel through that bridge. When a rickshaw enters through the bridge, the rickshaw on the other side has to wait for a long time. It creates long traffic jams. Also, if a new house is to be built in the area, big trucks, bricks, sand, cement loaders cannot enter the area. The owners who have built new houses have to suffer greatly. The demands of the local people who were planning to build this bridge earlier. That plan was wrong. Because of which they have to suffer so much today. Unless a big bridge is built here soon, the suffering will not end.

The situation is even worse on the Kaliakair to Baraibari road in the upazila. Although this road is like a highway, the bridge over the Turag river in Madrasapara area is now in a state of disrepair. Most of the bridge is standing in a dilapidated condition. The bridge has no handle. The bridge is as loose as an old man's teeth. At any moment the bridge can disappear into the river bed. Major accidents can happen. 

Every day, people from Madrasapara, Syedpur, Gabtali, Khanalpara, Namapara, Janurchala, Banshtali, Bairagichala, Kailadah, Baraibari and other villages travel through this bridge. Through this bridge, thousands of teachers and students of Golam Nabi Pilot High School, Kaliakair Government Primary School, Kaliakair Fazil Madrasa, Syedpur Government Primary School are moving in extreme suffering.

Rickshaw driver Billal, CNG driver Sohail, auto rickshaw driver Farooq said, "We do not go to those areas that have to be accessed through Syedpur, Tan-Kaliakoir Bridge." Because going to those bridges means going to the city in traffic. Although it sometimes goes, the passenger is told that the fare will be higher.’

Shirin Shila, Halim, Alamgir, Taslim, Ibrahim, Jalil, Imran, Yuvraj of Tan-Kaliakoir area said, this bridge is standing as a thorn in our path. This model of bridge was used in primitive times. Now this bridge does not work in digital Bangladesh. It cannot be overstated how many people are suffering because of this thin bridge. Thousands of students and people move through this bridge. They cannot go to class properly due to traffic jam. Our only demand is that there should be two big bridges in these two places.

Sohag Rahman, director of Afaz Uddin Memorial School and College, said that there are two bridges over Turag River in Tan-Kaliakair and Deidpur Madrasapara areas.

These two bridges are now nothing but public nuisance. There are about 15-20 schools, colleges, kindergartens, madrasas including my college here. Thousands of students, teachers and target people of these institutions travel through this bridge. But because these two bridges are narrow, long traffic jams are created. Which affects the students. They cannot attend classes properly.

Masum Hossain, the councilor of ward No. 1 of the municipality and that area told daily Ajker Darpan that although there is no other suffering in my ward, these two bridge targets are causing people constant trouble. These bridges cannot handle big vehicles, let alone small rickshaws, auto-rickshaws to travel on this road. When hearing about this road, the rickshaw drivers become afraid of traffic. Once these two bridges are completed, all problems will be solved. It must be said that the Kaliakair to Baraibari road has become like a highway. But the Madrasapara bridge along this road needs to be broken and a bigger bridge made. A big bridge here is just the demand of time.

Upazila Engineer (LGD) officer Biplab Pal said, the bridge in Sayedpur Madrasapara area is in our plan. We will construct a bridge over the Turag River by road from the Fulbaria Chapair bridge head along the river bank in that area. Hope it will be done soon. Also, continuing the trend of Kaliakair development, bridges are needed in all the areas and rivers of the upazila. The bridge will be constructed on a continuous basis on an urgent basis.