700-yard-long bamboo bridge built on self-help basis
Residents of Char Commissioner and Kazirchar unions in Muladi upazila under Barisal district can now walk across this channel of Arial Kha River, thanks to their voluntary labour of love that made it possible to construct the 700-yard-long bamboo bridge.Photo: STAR
Local people have constructed a 700-yard-long bamboo bridge on a channel of Arial Kha River, facilitating movement of a few thousand residents including several hundred students of three schools in Char Commissioner and Kazir Char unions in Muladi upazila under the district. Starting the work in early November, they completed it two weeks ago, and Tk 10 lakh was spent to make the bridge with 8000 bamboos. Locals led by Abdus Sattar, Rashid, Rob Kha and Anis Haoladar took the initiative to construct the bridge to mitigate sufferings of thousands of people, said Shahjahan Tafadar, chairman of Char Commissioner union parishad. "Many people could not afford the costly boat journey on the river channel that sees 4-6 feet water depth in the rainy season. The depth comes down to only 2-3 feet in the dry season, making the movement of boats difficult," he said. "The bridge will greatly benefit students of Shayestabad Shafiuddin High School, Kazirchar Peada Hut Wahadia High School and Katherpool Registered Primary School. Locals requiring journey to the upazila, district and divisional headquarters will be benefited too," said Abus Sattar. "As the local union parishad and the government authorities failed to provide fund for construction of a concrete bridge, and we took initiative to set the bamboo bridge, perhaps the longest one of its kind in the country. We the locals contributed money and voluntary labour for the purpose," he added.
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