People of three upazilas of Naogaon are crossing the Atrai River at Kalikapur Bazaar point under Manda Upazila using a temporary bamboo bridge with great difficulties. Moreover, they have to pay a toll of Tk5 per person to a man named Akhteruzzaman Bulbul for crossing the bamboo bridge.
Locals said, Akhteruzzaman Bulbul took a lease of the ‘Kheyaghat’ (dock) with Tk1.1 lakh and built the bamboo bridge on the river spending Tk80 thousand. Now, he is collecting tolls from the locals using the bridge.
Residents of Manda, Mahadevpur and Niamatpur upazilas of Naogaon have been demanding a concrete bridge across the Atrai River. The country has been independent for almost 50 years now. Nevertheless, they cross it on temporary bamboo bridge. There are 15 villages on the east side of the river and 18 on the west. About 25 to 30 thousand people of these villages carry their crops every day using the bamboo bridge. They demand for immediate building a permanent bridge there.
The leaseholder Akturuzzaman Bulbul said, local people use the bamboo bridge for crossing the river during the dry season. He said the construction of the bamboo bridge costs him around Tk 1 lakh and he collects a toll of Tk 5 per person and Tk 10 per motorcycle that crosses the bridge, only to recover his construc tion cost.
Former Chairman of the Safapur Union, Abul Kasem said the communications of these villagers rely on boats in the rainy season and on the bamboo bridge in the dry season. Although, local people have been demanding a bridge on the river for long, no initiative was taken to implement it. Engineer of Upazila LGED Shah Md Shahidul Islam said no such work plan has come up till now to construct a bridge at Kalikapur point of Atrai River.