Contractors raise bills worth Tk 10 crore & disappear, bridge stuck on 3 pillars even in 6 yrs

The work of an important bridge under construction over the New Dhaleshwari River in Jokarchar of Kalihati Upazila of Tangail has not been completed even in six years. The entire project has come to a standstill after only three pillars were constructed due to mutual conflicts, irresponsibility and procrastination among the contractors. This has put the implementation of the much-awaited alternative route of the Jamuna Bridge-Dhaka Highway in doubt. Lakhs of people in the two upazilas are suffering every day.

Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) sources said that as part of the construction of an alternative road from the Mahmudnagar roundabout in Tangail Sadar Upazila to the eastern end of the Jamuna Bridge, an initiative was taken to construct a 264-meter-long PSC girder bridge over the New Dhaleshwari River in Jokarchar. The cost of the project is estimated at Tk 34 crore 14 lakh 63 thousand.

Haider Construction Private Limited, Avni Enterprise and Syed Mujibur Rahman's company jointly won the tender. Although the work order was given on September 13, 2020, the work could not be completed by the scheduled time of September 12, 2023.

It was seen on the spot that the work has stopped after constructing only three pillars on both banks of the river. It is alleged that the owner of Avni Enterprise, Md. Hekmat Ali, went into hiding after collecting a bill of Tk 9 crore 81 lakh 42 thousand 743 from LGED. Since then, there has been no further progress in the project.

According to the locals, people from various contracting companies come from time to time to measure, bring some construction materials, and leave again. But in reality, the work does not start. As a result, people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the project.

It is learned that the work has not started for about a year and a half after receiving the work order. Later, Syed Mujibur Rahman, a partner of the joint contractor company, started the construction work by investing about 30 million taka on his own initiative. However, it was alleged that the other partner Hekmat Ali stopped the work. After that, the project practically came to a standstill due to disputes, counter-allegations and lawsuits between the two parties.

Syed Mujibur Rahman alleged that although the other two partners had given him the responsibility to complete the work in writing, Hekmat Ali later stopped the work by bringing in terrorist forces. After that, he complained to various departments and took legal recourse.

On the other hand, Gazipur contractor Rafiqul Islam claimed that Hekmat Ali had taken 25.8 million taka from him in the name of selling the work to him through forged signatures. When he later asked about the matter, he was intimidated and the contract was withdrawn. He alleged that he has not received the money back yet.

Meanwhile, considering the long-standing suffering of the people, LGED invited new tenders for the remaining work of the project on March 9 this year. The new estimated cost was set at 344 million 44 lakh 53 thousand 379 taka. Chowdhury-Elhoz Joint Venture (JV) has been awarded the work. The target has been set to complete the construction of the bridge within the next 22 months.

Local residents Yunus Sheikh, Bidyut Mia, Jahangir Hossain and Masud Rana said that if this bridge is built, an effective alternative route will be opened to the Jamuna Bridge-Dhaka Highway. People from the western and southern regions including Tangail city will be able to travel to the northern regions easily. Traffic congestion on the highway during various times including Eid will also be reduced to a large extent. Therefore, they demanded the completion of the bridge work quickly.

In this regard, Tangail LGED Executive Engineer Jahanar Parveen said that the work was not completed on time due to lack of coordination and conflict among the joint contractors. The bill has been paid according to the work they have done. Now a new contractor has been appointed. Hopefully, the construction of the bridge will be completed within the stipulated time.

After six years of stagnation, this important infrastructure project has now become a symbol of unfulfilled promises of development for the local people. The locals are counting down the days in the hope that the work will be completed this time with a new contractor.