Grabbers choke Buriganga bridge [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Grabbers choke Buriganga bridge

Local February 19, 2017

The 2nd Buriganga Bridge, linking the capital with Mawa via Keraniganj, has been choked by influential elements’ illegal businesses, run over and below it, posing serious risks for longevity of the key surface communication facility.
Buses and three wheelers parked on both the ends of the bridge, above and below it, make traffic movement difficult.
Vendors keep the sidewalks of the bridge perennially under their occupation.
Local ruling party men and the police collect several crore taka as tolls each month from the unauthorized users of the bridge to let them do their businesses, said locals.
BUET’s civil engineering professor Md Shamsul Hoque who specialized in transportation and road safety said that such unauthorized uses were bound to reduce the longevity of the bridge besides increasing the risks of fatal accidents.
He advised the authorities to pay attention to proper maintenance of the bridge following the instructions laid down in the manual.
Owners opened at least 20 garages for keeping their rickshaws, rickshaw vans and push carts on two ends of the bridge.
Buses, trucks and auto-rickshaws are kept on both ends of the bridge for which the owners opened two stands, over it and eight stands below it.
Travelers were heard asking the question how schools, restaurants, public toilets, a private rest house and hundreds of shops could be opened on two ends of the bridge.
The existence of the office of the local union chapter of ruling Awami League just below the bridge at Keraniganj also gave birth to various questions.
Apparel seller Azharul Islam, who regularly commutes between Keraniganj and the capital, said he finds the authorities’ indulgence to the illegal occupants of the important bridge quite amazing though the patients of Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital suffer undue delays caused by traffic jams while crossing the bridge as do thousands of other commuters.
Dhaka South City Corporation has taken a plan to legalize the illegal activities by leasing out spaces through bidding, DSCC zonal executive officer Md Ataur Rahman told New Age.
Asked about the illegal occupants of the bridge he said they returned every time after they were evicted.
Roads and Highways Department’s executive engineer for Dhaka division Ataur Rahman pleaded his total ignorance about the illegalities occurring on the 2nd Buriganga Bridge under him.
‘We will take action immediately,’ he said but blamed police’s negligence for the state of affairs.
Babu Bazar-Badamtoli Samajkollyan Sangha general secretary Zakir Hossain Rony called DSCC officials’ involvement with letting the illegality continue in lieu of money was an open secret.
The four-lane bridge across the Buriganga River was opened to traffic in 2001.
The RHD collected tolls from the bridge users from 2001 to 2013 when in the face of protests the RHD stopped toll collection.
And ever since, grabbers took control of the bridge, said locals.
Importance of the 2nd Buriganga Bridge increased manifold as it is set to be used for transportation of people and cargo between the south-western districts and the rest of the country after the Padma Bridge was opened to traffic.