In Ulipur Upazila of Kurigram, public suffering has increased due to the construction of unplanned U-shaped drain on the canal on the rural road from Rajvallav North Para Dam to Damarhat Madrasa. With the financing of Local Governance Support Project-3, a drain has been constructed at a cost of about two lakh Tk in the financial year 2017-2018 implemented by Gunaigarh Union Parishad and ten years ago another drain was constructed there. Due to the lack of connecting roads on both sides of those U-shaped drains, more than 10,000 people of 2 unions of that area have to suffer for commuting. The only hope for them to cross now is a wooden bridge. Even after 52 years of independence, the desired bridge has not been built on the canal. The locals have been demanding the construction of a bridge here for a long time. But their demands have not been fulfilled even today.
On surface, it is seen that there are two drains side by side, no necessary road are going over these drains. No vehicle can pass over those. The local people have been traveling for 25/30 years by building a 20-meter wooden bridge with wood, bamboo and concrete pillars and connecting it to the drain without any help from the government and people's representatives. Currently, the wooden bridge is in a dangerous condition.
Locals complain that more than 10,000 people of these two villages, Rajballabh and Damarhat, have to face extreme hardships when the monsoons come. Also, various crops produced in this region including rice, jute, wheat, potato, onion, mustard have to be transported to the market in extreme difficulty. Pedestrians, school-college students and sick patients have to suffer especially due to lack of bridge. Nazmul Islam, a student of 9th grade, said that now it is the dry season, we can move on land. During the rainy season, when these sink, we travel by boat or banana tree raft. If the road was right, we would have a lot of advantages. There is no chairman importance in the construction of this bridge due to the fact that Rajvallabh Gunaigach Union and Damarhat Bajra Union are on the border. Aleya Begum and Abdul Quddus said that the wooden bridge in front of the house has to be built by the local residents by collecting donations. Because we suffer a lot during monsoon. Our children cannot go to school. It is decided by the locals every two years. The member-chairmen did not take any initiative to help.
The two drains given by the Member-Chairman are of no use.
In this regard, Gunaigach UP Chairman Mokhleshur Rahman said that two drains have been constructed due to the narrowness of the place, as a result of which the work is not being done. The process of arranging a good bridge at that place is underway in coordination with the Bajra Union Chairman.
In this regard, Upazila Engineer KKM Sadekul Alam said that no one had informed about this matter before.
However, necessary measures will be taken in the future.