Locals in Behala village under Barguna's Taltali upazila have been suffering in their daily commute for the past three years since the collapse of an iron bridge in the area.
The bridge collapsed in March 2022, cutting off the village from the Amtali–Taltali road. Since then, no initiative has been taken to repair it, forcing villagers to use a makeshift bamboo bridge to cross a canal at great risk.
Residents of Behala are mostly farmers. As there is no market nearby, they have to travel 15 kilometres to the upazila headquarters to sell their produce. With no vehicular access to the village since the bridge's collapse, farmers face immense difficulty in transporting their goods to markets.
The Local Government Engineering Department constructed the makeshift bamboo bridge with funding from the Asian Development Bank after the old iron bridge collapsed. The temporary structure now serves as the only link for residents of Behala and nine neighbouring villages to access the upazila town.
More than a thousand students from Behala High School and three government primary schools use the bridge daily.
"Ambulances cannot reach our village when someone falls seriously ill. Farmers also struggle to transport their crops to markets," said Anjon Adhikari, a local.
Tapan Adhikari, another villager, said, "When the iron bridge was built, there was no road. Now we have a paved road, but no bridge to connect. It's ironic!"
Contacted, Md Shakhawat Hossain, upazila engineer of LGED in Taltali, said, "At least eight such bridges in Taltali upazila have either collapsed or are in poor condition. We have already sent project proposals to the higher authorities for renovation."