AL, BNP fail to bridge differences over canal

The bridge and the road travel parallel, side by side, but never meet. Yet this was supposed to be an approach road to the bridge.

However, this never happened because of the rivalry between the local leaders of two major political parties, Awami League and BNP, in the village Masuri of Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj.

The bridge hovers over the canal like a platform, while the road blocks the flow of water. The canal is now covered with water hyacinth, like a stagnant pond.

About 18 years ago when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was in power, the road was constructed a part of the area’s development. There were no funds for the bridge, so the road was simply built over the canal, blocking the stream of water.

Then AL came to the power and a budget was allocated for the bridge. However, an AL leader intervened, claiming that the road went though his private property. He stopped the road from being connected to the bridge, and so it was built alongside beside the canal instead. This time there was no budget for the connecting road, and so the bridge stands useless suspended midway.

According to the locals, the bridge and the road are the ‘victims of village politics.’

The small bridge or culvert standing on the 4 pillars is just over 37 ft long and 12 ft wide. The canal water flows under the bridge to come up against the foundation of the road.

The Prothom Alo correspondent visited the area on 12 January.

“Did you come to see the road and the bridge? Everyone comes to see these and have a laugh,” said a local teacher, laughing.

Hesitant to reveal his name, the teacher told the correspondent, “A BNP leader made the road and then an AL leader made the bridge. The AL leader asked the

BNP leader to shift the road to government land first.”

A farmer said, “A local Al leader Malek Master is the proprietor of the land on the west of the bridge. He is very influential. He does not want the road on his property.”

Malek Master, 96, who is a retired school teacher, claimed that the BNP men built the road deliberately over his land.

“They did it to instigate me while the government land remained unused,” he added.

The villagers say Malek Master tried to recover the land after AL came to power. Accordingly, the bridge was built over the canal on government land few years ago.

“The road will be connected to the bridge as soon as the budget is sanctioned for this,” said local UP member Abdul Jalil Miah.

Rupganj union parishad secretary Habib Ullah said the bridge was built with government funds of about Tk 150,000.

“I made the bridge this way as the locals told initially that they would turn the road towards the bridge once it’s made. But they couldn’t do it eventually because of the dispute,” the contractor of bridge told the correspondent.

The upazila nirbahi officer of Rupganj, Abul Fateh Mohammad Shafiqul Islam said, he hadn’t been aware of the matter.

‘I sent my men to see the bridge. I will now duly inform the authorities of the matter,” the UNO said on Monday.

*This piece originally published in Prothom Alo online has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat