Although the scheduled time has passed, the construction work of the bridge over the small Jamuna river in Karimnagar of Joypurhat Sadar upazila has not been completed due to the negligence of the contractor.
The long-standing suffering of the local residents is not leaving behind. People of at least 30 villages are crossing the river every day in a dinghy boat and raft made of drum-bamboo. As a result, major and minor accidents often occur. Therefore, the locals demanded to complete the construction of the bridge soon.
It was known that on May 30, 2021, the foundation stones of two bridges under the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) were laid on the small Jamuna river in Karimnagar and Panchbibi Bagjana in Joypurhat Sadar upazila. The construction of the bridge was supposed to be completed in one and a half years. According to the instructions, the construction of the bridge in Panchbibi Bagjana has been completed, but the construction work of the Karimnagar bridge is not yet half completed. Naogaon-based contractor firm Messrs Mondal Traders and Ethan Enterprise were given the responsibility to construct the 81-meter bridge at a cost of Tk 5.5 crore. Although the work was supposed to be completed within one and a half years, only one of the four pillars of the bridge has been completed in three years. Some parts of the other three pillars have been poured and somewhere only suttering.
According to Sadar Upazila LGED office sources, after laying the foundation stone of the Karimnagar Bridge on May 30, 2021, the construction of the bridge was ordered to be completed on September 18, 2022. But as the bridge was not completed at that time, the time was extended by three months from the Upazila Engineer's office. As it did not work, the time was extended for another six months after applying to the higher authorities. It expires on June 29, 2023. Even then, the contractor could not complete the bridge work. In view of the application of the latest contractor, the time was extended again till May 30, 2024. Meanwhile, Alauddin Hossain, executive engineer of Joypurhat LGED, has sent a letter to the contractor twice to return Tk 38,51,390 of performance security for not doing the work at the scheduled time.
Jahangir Alam, proprietor of the contractor firm Mersus Mandal Traders, did not receive calls on his mobile phone several times to know the matter.
ARS.
