Despite having a 12-metre-long girder bridge, residents of several villages in Lalmohan upazila of Bhola are forced to cross it at great risk every day. With parts of the bridge collapsed, locals have placed betel nut tree trunks over the damaged slabs to create a makeshift walkway, putting the lives of hundreds of people, including students, in danger.

The bridge over the Naya Bhangani Canal is located in the Ganeshpur area of Ward No. 3 under Motahar Nagar Union. Residents of several nearby villages have been using the unsafe structure for the past 16 years.

Locals said the bridge was constructed in 2009 to improve communication in the area. However, just a year later, in 2010, slabs on its eastern side and middle section collapsed into the canal. No initiative has been taken to repair or rebuild the bridge in the past 16 years.

At present, residents cross the damaged sections using betel nut tree trunks and a makeshift wooden ladder. The bridge shakes dangerously whenever anyone walks across it. Several people, including children, have already been injured after falling into the canal.

Shanto, a sixth-grade student, said crossing the bridge was frightening, as it always felt like the structure could collapse and send him plunging into the canal. He said students had to cross it every day amid constant fear.

Local residents Bacchu Matabbar, Shahe Alam and Shamsul Haque Sikder said no vehicles, including auto-rickshaws, could use the route since the bridge was damaged.

They said elderly people, patients and pregnant women faced the greatest difficulties. In emergencies, when someone needs to be taken to the upazila health complex, residents have to make a makeshift stretcher using bamboo and carry the patient across the bridge.

The residents urged Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Member of Parliament for Bhola-3 and Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, to take immediate steps to repair or reconstruct the bridge.

Lalmohan Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Sifat Bin Sadek said a list of dilapidated bridges across the upazila, including the one in Ganeshpur, had been sent to the ministry.

He added that repair or reconstruction work would begin as soon as funds were allocated.