Expired rail bridge turns risky

A long delay in repairing the footbridge at Lalmonirhat Railway Station has made the structure vulnerable and risky for people's movement.

The 467-foot-long and six-foot-wide steel-structured footbridge was built during the British era.

The authority declared the bridge risky and vulnerable in 2001 as its duration and longevity expired years before.

People, especially railway passengers, use the bridge to risk their lives, as they find no alternative.

Officials of Lalmonirhat Railway Station said construction of a new foot-over bridge at the station began in March 2020 and the progress is going on.

But the Railway Bridge Department stopped construction work for unknown reasons after rebuilding a section of the bridge, about 210 feet, of the 467-feet-long, spending Tk 77 lakh.

The remaining 257 feet portion of the old footbridge was left undone and has been lying in a dire condition that needs immediate reconstruction.

Lalmonirhat railway station is an important railway junction and one of the railway’s divisional headquarter in Bangladesh Railway in the Rangpur division which had also emerged as a key railway hub during the British era. The prestigious and famous railway express service- Assam Mail used to run from Santahar to Guwahati-India via Lalmonirhat before the partition of the sub-continent.

A number of train services including two intercity expresses connecting the capital- Dhaka and Burimari land port runs from the railway junction daily. Some commuter, local mail, and shuttle trains are being operated from the station regularly connecting the northern districts.

Locals said hundreds of people including railway passengers use the footbridge every day amid fear and apprehension of collapsing the structure anytime and causing fatal injuries.

One of the train passengers, Mizanur Rahman, 50, said people use the dilapidated bridge finding no alternative.

Pedestrian Mohammad Ali, 56, said they face difficulties and become afraid of crossing the dilapidated part of the footbridge to reach the platform. The viaduct at the station needs to be rebuilt urgently as it is one of the busiest railway stations in the country.

Aslam Hussain, an assistant engineer at Railway Bridge Inspection Department, said the station is the oldest and biggest railway station in the country's northern region.  It always remains crowded.  They are aware of the people’s safety. The authority has completed all preparations to rebuild the bridge. Steps are underway to remove the remaining old parts of the overpass. The reconstruction work will begin soon.