Irregularities found in bridge construction

Locals of Shariatpur Sadar upazila alleged that there are irregularities in the construction of a 98-metre-long bridge worth Tk 10 crore.

According to the locals, the centring work of girders and slabs of the bridge has been done using bamboo instead of iron pipes and wooden poles instead of steel. Locals fear that this will lead to a major accident.

They allege that the contractor in connivance with the engineers of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has resorted to widespread irregularities and corruption in the construction of the bridge.

Apart from this, locals also alleged that there are plans of demolishing residents’ homesteads near the approach roads without acquiring the land on both sides of the bridge.

According to the Sadar Upazila LGED sources, the construction of a 98-metre-long and 9-metre-wide bridge over the Kirtinasha River in Domshar union of the upazila is being implemented by the department under the Rajbari-Shariatpur-Madaripur district project.

The construction began in FY22 with an estimated cost of Tk 9,12,71,000 and a contract cost of Tk 10,03,48,923.

Masud Ghorami, a sub-contractor of Gosairhat upazila of the district, is working on the construction of the bridge in the name of M/s Hamim International, a contracting company owned by contractor Habibur Rahman Akur of Madaripur.

Bridge construction started on September 23, 2021. The work is scheduled to be completed in September this year, and more than half the construction is yet to be completed. So far, the contractor has withdrawn about Tk 4 crore.

The centring work of the bridge girders and slabs has been done with bamboo instead of iron pipes and tree poles and with wood instead of steel. Although there are instructions to install steel shutters using iron pipes instead of low-quality bolts and wood, it is not being followed.

Locals complained that the LGED engineers in charge of supervising the project have yet to stop the work from going on.

Apart from this, the nearby residents are also concerned about the fact that the LGED has planned out the project without acquiring the lands for the approach road.

LGED upazila Engineer Abdus Sattar told The Business Post that shuttering and centering work for the frame should not be done with bamboo and wood.

“I have issued an order to halt the construction after finding out they were using bamboo and wooden slabs for construction,” he said.

According to him, the LGED does not compensate for land acquisition.

Dr Ghiyasuddin Chowkidar, a resident of the area said that according to the BRS record, the width of the bridge should be 24 feet.

“If the approach roads are of similar width, they will encroach on our land and houses. However, the officials are saying that the LGED does not compensate for land acquisition,” he said.

Other residents of the area including Ruhul Amin Munshi, Suman Dhali, Ibrahim Dhali, Mohammad Sardar, and Anwar Sheikh said they fear that the bridge may cause a major accident if the irregularities in construction continue.

“The contractors demolished my house worth Tk 3 lakh and only compensated me Tk 2 lakh after much back-and-forth. Besides, about six decimals of my land will be taken for the road construction, but they said LGED does not compensate for land acquisition,” said Ruhul Amin Munshi.

Another resident Malek Majhi said the locals want the bridge to be constructed as per the instructions so there remains no risk of the bridge collapsing and causing a major accident.

In regard to the allegations, the owner of M/s Hamim Enterprise Habibur Rahman Aku said, “Masud Ghorami of Gosairhat is in charge of the construction under my company’s title. He will take responsibility if there is anything wrong with the construction.” He asked the correspondent to contact Masud for further details.

The correspondent, however, failed to contact Masud as several calls to him over the phone went unanswered.

In this regard, District LGED Executive Engineer Shajahan Faraji said, “We are aware of the irregularities and are currently looking into the matter. However, our department does not have any regulations to compensate for land acquisition.”

He added that if someone submits a formal complaint, they will look into the matter.